Fearless
by run4life
Summary: The experiment, the tragedy, her secrets: few know how they overlap. Diana's already tackled the odds, but things really just keep coming back to haunt her. And lately, in one heck of an explosive way. Action, drama, tragedy, humor, love, hate - everything plays its part. Zack/OC.
1. One Note

**Fearless**

**To briefly summarize: A nineteen-year-old girl runs away from home to join SOLDIER, where girls aren't allowed. She'll have to deal with a recent tragedy, newfound but denied love, and insanely intense physical challenges…all while pretending to be a boy.**

**This is the story of that path; a story of adventure and action, of the quirks of romance, of the tension of being hunted, of incapacitating laughter, of loss and findings and dramatics, and perhaps most importantly... of what happens when the lies explode as the world is turned inside out and upside down.**

**A/N: So this is my third fanfic to date, also my first for Final Fantasy VII or any other FF for that matter. (Be harsh if you wish. Really, anything for reviews, haha. I didn't understand how essential they are until I started writing!) And, yeah, I've noticed that there are already multiple stories out there about a similar scenario, but I promise any OCs are of my own creation and _definitely_ not Mary Sues - if you don't know what that is, it's a female lead character who basically has all good abilities and characteristics and no flaws - and so is my plot unless of course it purposely coincides with the FFVII or CC game. I'm also well aware that not quite all of these characters show up in the games where they do in my story, but I never have and unfortunately probably never will play them, but don't judge me please? :) However, I have done my research where necessary! *cough Wikipedia cough* I tried to keep the OCs to a minimum considering my main character is of my own creation, so you'll see real game characters pop up from time to time most likely in weird places _but_ I tried to keep it as accurate as possible. I also played with the timeline a bit, doing a little bit of combining Crisis Core with other elements of the FFVII compilation, but I'll address those separate issues when they become important :) Pairings include (but are not limited to) ZackxOC, CloudxTifa, and the occasional VincentxYuffie. Turn back now if you can't handle the insanity o_o haha! Hopefully you can find this to be enjoyable.**

**Disclaimer: Quite obviously, I do not, never have and never will own Final Fantasy or any of its fabulous characters.**

**Chapter 1: One Note**

I couldn't believe that this was the only place I could run away to. A tree. Up a freaking tree. I really had no freedom at all. But at least no one could see me now. Mom and Dad wouldn't mind for a little bit. They knew I spent just that much more time alone now. Sure, I had friends, but there was always that little gap left. Actually, it was more of a gaping hole.

I just hadn't been able to take it when some officers from the SOLDIER unit of Shinra came by looking for recruits last week. They had thought a young man lived in the Loveless household. I couldn't tell them the truth. I had said he was in an apprenticeship far away from Kalm, which automatically exempts men from the military. I'd heard that SOLDIER didn't like to force men to join up, but I had at least wanted to give a legitimate-sounding excuse. Call me a crowd-pleaser; _he_ always did.

But now here I was, allowing the tears to flow for the first time in…well, a long time. It had really sunk in when I had had to talk to those SOLDIERs, and my mind had just wrapped itself around the fact that he was, in fact, gone.

Devon. My best friend. The one who always stuck up for me. The one who taught me everything and the one to whom I taught everything that was left over. My other half, quite literally. My twin brother.

I watched through blurred eyes as the light in my parents' room went out after their shadows crossed the window. I could at least tell that Mom looked a little anxious and Dad was uneasy as well but trying to reassure her. It was probably my fault. I didn't like to worry them so, as well as my extended family members who lived nearby, but what could I do? No one could try to pretend that the entire family hadn't been affected by my brother's death.

Then again, no one but me felt guilty.

Why couldn't I have done something? If I hadn't been so weak, maybe I could have saved him.

That was why I had seemingly spontaneously thrown myself into physical training in the weeks after it happened. Of course, it was all a secret, with only my older cousin Jonathan to help me. He understood, at least. He got why I wanted to give up being so physically susceptible. I wanted to feel strong, to know I could handle myself. To be fearless because I knew what I wanted and how I was going to get it, and be fully capable of doing so.

Amazingly, I had already changed. I wasn't so soft and harmless. My limbs were tougher and I didn't tire nearly as easily. I was stubborn anyway and Jonathan, who was like a second brother to me, was constantly amazed by me. He said once that he didn't like to admit it, but I was a fast learner and I had some good potential. I thought, maybe my parents should have asked for two boys instead of a boy and a girl. Now they had only their daughter, anyway, so no matter.

The thunder that had been coming closer all afternoon rolled in on the unusually thick air. It was weird for this time of year in Kalm. Suddenly it began to pour rain down. The water mingled with the remnants of the salty tears lingering on my face.

With the rain came a sudden change, and tonight, I had made my choice. I knew exactly what I was going to do.

* * *

Already drenched, she jumped down from her perch in the evergreen to land silently on the grass, and strode purposefully into her house and to her room. She had had it all planned for weeks but hadn't even realized it until recently. The visit from the SOLDIERs had awakened her to her own subconscious thoughts, if that made any sense.

It was time to become someone new.

She compactly folded the clothing she needed into a duffel bag and fetched her bag of things from the bathroom. Damn womanhood. That was going to pose a slight problem. Well, at least she had some other things already covered in that respect, she thought, yanking a huge roll of bandages off the counter and making to stuff it into the bag. On second thought…why not dress now? She wasn't planning on stopping anywhere where people might ask questions.

After eight minutes of struggling with the stretch-bandage, punctuated by much swearing under her breath, she was clad in black cargo pants and boots with a white shirt and a black jacket. The knife that her parents didn't know about was inconspicuously hidden up her sleeve. Then she had a thought and whimpered slightly. Her hair. She was going to have to cut it. Normally it fell to halfway down her back in brown something-or-others—some days it hung in ringlets, others it was pin straight. Why? A lovely little thing called genetics... Yeah, make that genetic _experimentation_. Devon had been the same way because…no. She wasn't going to dwell on painful memories, not while she was escaping.

She sighed and pulled the knife back out, walking to the mirror and judging the length. She really didn't want to lose what she could retain of her feminine side, considering how much it liked to shrink away on occasion. Well, it was common enough for men to wear their hair in a ponytail. So she took a handful and gently pulled it taut, chopping it off with her knife so it now brushed her shoulders. She moved on to another section until her head was a considerable amount lighter. She took out an elastic and whipped it all into a low ponytail, assessing her reflection.

Both she and her twin had those kinds of features that could be slightly tweaked by their genes to look either masculine or feminine, yet still look incredibly similar next to each other. She certainly didn't naturally look like a man, and Devon hadn't looked girly, (they were both actually moderately attractive - not classically so, but with a subtle charm) but with some work, she could pass as the opposite gender. _Some work and a _lot_ of caution_, she reminded herself, slinging her bag over her shoulder and taking a last look around her room.

Ten minutes and one scribbled note later, she slipped out the door and padded away into the night.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_I know you must be worried. But don't be—and please promise you won't send anyone after me. I just need to go away for a little bit to somewhere that only I can know about. I hope you can understand. I'll be fine, and I'll come home eventually. Tell the rest of the family that I love you all, and I'll see you again soon anyway. Just remember that I'm not really running away—I'm running to find myself._

_Love always,_

_Diana_

**A/N: By the way, after this, it stays in a third person point of view. Just sayin'. I know this was wicked short, but it was just for effect :P (Seriously, I've got so much written beyond this that it's not even funny.) If you're interested, please follow along, and I'll post soon to make up for the shortness! Reviews are greatly appreciated—let me know how you like it!**


	2. The Problems With Men

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: No owning of gorgeous blondes or delicious SOLDIERs, to my deepest regret.**

**A/N: If you're still with me on this, thanks a million times! Not much to say but enjoy :)**

**Chapter 2: The Problem With Men**

She winced as the bus bounced over yet another pothole. Just because the thing was huge didn't mean she couldn't feel every bump the vehicle went over. Thankfully, she was alone in her compartment. She was a little uncomfortable from her chest, but not enough to actually say so.

_Get used to it, _she thought grimly, willing her midsection to shrink. _You'll be wearing these bandages an awful lot. When there's any kind of chance of people around…_

Aw, jeez. People. Urgh. She didn't know if she wanted to deal with anyone right now. She also wasn't particularly keen on using her "man voice" all the time either.

"Ya mind?"

Diana looked up. A blonde guy was standing in the doorway, dressed much like her. He looked exhausted and a little fed up, so she took pity on him. "No prob."

"Thanks." He flopped down across from her with his bag, making his unruly blond spikes bobble. "Cloud Strife."

"Devon Loveless." She had decided a while ago to use her brother's name. For all Shinra knew, she wasn't someone who was supposed to be dead. He hadn't been away on an apprenticeship, either, as far as the truth was concerned. She had her story all straight and she was sticking to it. She was actually grateful that the family hadn't taken the time to put the death in any records outside the village yet. "You joining up with SOLDIER?"

"Yeah." He brightened slightly. Seemed like a happy-go-lucky guy, maybe a year older than her. You had to be over eighteen and she barely made the cutoff, thank goodness. Lord only knew she didn't need age restriction violations on her record too. Suddenly he peered at her a little more closely. "You too?" he asked in a "no way" kind of way.

"Yeah," she sat up a little straighter, getting a defiant look in her eyes. "So?" Cloud noticed that the kid had unusual eyes—one minute ago he thought they were gray, now they looked a snapping green. Not to mention he looked way too young to be even thinking about SOLDIER.

"Aren't you a little…I dunno…underage?"

"I'm just nineteen, thank you very much."

Cloud still looked skeptical.

She sighed. "Look, I know I'm little. Always been that way."

"Uh-huh. Hmph. Well. You know anyone else here yet?"

"Not a soul, except your wonderful skeptic self."

Cloud laughed outright at this. "All right, all right, my bad. Really, you don't seem like I first thought. Okay? Truce?"

Diana snorted but clasped his proffered hand. "Truce," she said, more warmly. During the next hour she practiced her "man-convo" skills while learning a little bit about her new friend. He was vague on the family details but otherwise was a pretty easygoing and open guy. \She immediately liked him, and not just because he was an adorable blue-eyed blonde guy. Cloud didn't seem to mind her terribly, either. She had passed her first test!

She nearly died when the time came to get off the train, though. She was going to be meeting a whole lot more people, some a good deal more perceptive than others. Just about all the other new recruits on the bus and coming from other places looked nervous too, though, but their fears should have dwindled in light of hers.

They were all told to put their bags on a truck that would take them to the dorm complex, and assembled in a large courtyard. Two SOLDIERs and who Diana suspected to be two men from the division of the Turks came to greet them. One of the SOLDIERs actually looked a tiny bit familiar. Now that was ridiculous! Where would she possibly know a SOLDIER commander from?

"Thank goodness we're still getting plenty of newbies," Zack Fair muttered to Sephiroth as they walked into the courtyard, eyeing the recruits. This was the first group he'd ever been in control of, as a result of his recent promotion to first class.

Sephiroth just grunted. "Just more work to train 'em." This earned him an eyeroll.

"Hey newbies," the SOLDIER with the messy black hair not unlike Cloud's said casually before assuming a serious expression and bluntly stating, "I'm Zack Fair, SOLDIER first class, and I'm your commander now, so you better pay attention to me." The men plus Diana shifted awkwardly, not quite sure what to make of this guy. The commander's face suddenly broke into a joking grin and Diana felt like she almost recognized him for a second. How weird… "Kidding! Jeez, tough crowd." It was the silver-haired SOLDIER's turn to roll his eyes. There were a few chuckles from the group. Diana was still perfecting her "manly laugh," as she called it. "It's me and Sephiroth here," he jerked his head at the other SOLDIER, "and Reno and Rude are, uh… _What are you guys still doing here? I thought the Director sent for you,_" he whispered back to the redhead and the bald guy who Diana thought were Turks. When he got blank looks he proceeded to ignore the two. "Whatever. Now I guarantee you will get lost around here, so I recommend you familiarize yourself with your environment a bit while you can. Tomorrow, the real training begins. You're all going to be staying on as cadets for the next few weeks. After that, if we think you're ready, you'll join SOLDIER as a third class. Meet in the mess hall at six tonight, Sephiroth's gonna tell you about your dorms now. Later." He jogged off towards the who-knew-what building, leaving the "newbies" with the more than slightly intimidating Sephiroth.

Whispers were going around. "Sephiroth? He's a SOLDIER first class too…" "He's, like, _the_ best…" "What do you mean last name? Isn't like he needs one…"

"No one really felt like bothering to attempt to match you guys up, so find a dorm partner, whatever." Sephiroth sounded bored. "Get the keys from over there and sign the roster."

Diana and Cloud immediately looked at each other. "Roomie?" he asked.

"Sure." This was going better than she thought already. She had a friend and no weapons of mass destruction had yet exploded once they felt her accident-prone presence.

"Yo shrimp, move it. Yer in my way." A mountain had appeared beside her.

Diana didn't particularly appreciate having her size called out—she was bigger than average for a girl, at five foot eight, but these were a bunch of guys, some a year or two older than her. She turned to glare up at the offender with violent gray eyes. Wow. He just kept on going. He was one of those people that was just plain _big_. "I'll move if and when I feel like it," she snapped back.

"Oh, the midget's got a temper," he—it?—tsked. "That's not good at all." He looked on the verge of practically cracking his knuckles ominously. People were slowing and stopping to watch the confrontation between said midget and the big guy.

She really didn't fail to attract trouble. Trying to head it off at the pass, she said, "Look, buddy, take a pill and take a hike. Looks like it'd be good for you." Okay, so maybe she did have a temper that had a tendency to make things worse. It was a good way to cover up for her lack of testosterone, right? Yeah, well, that came at a price. Cloud was frantically motioning at her to cut it out from behind the giant's back.

"Yer really asking for it, kid, y'know that?" His voice was gravelly and obnoxious.

"Or maybe the problem's just a lack of ability to do things alone and without an audience to watch you be insulted by someone half your size—" she was getting worked up now and was simply adding fuel to the fire. Poor Cloud now had a look of despair on his face.

"Alright, that's it!" He stepped forward and grabbed for her but got a surprise. She swept her right leg forward and around his ankles as soon as he was within range, flipping him over her knee and sending him crashing to the ground. He snatched her arm with his long reach and flung her down flat as well. She would have been completely winded if she hadn't gotten used to it by playing so many full-body contact sports with her family when she was younger. But as it was, getting intentionally slammed to the ground was no picnic, and her ribs stung as the giant loomed over her, about to try to punch her face in. She still had some sense and grabbed his wrist, stopping the full force of the blow and causing him to lurch forward off-balance just close enough for her to whip her right leg up and around in a fan kick, catching him in the neck and sending him flying again. However, she had misjudged how much mass he was made of and he recovered a little faster than she had predicted. She was still on the ground when she saw that he was coming at her way too fast, obviously intending to literally body-slam her against the ground, when a pair of boots unexpectedly slid into view. Her first thought was, _Cloud?_ But the voice wasn't his.

"Going somewhere?" came the commander, Zack's, cold voice. Gigantor stopped abruptly and started muttering excuses, retreating fast. Diana scrambled to her feet, grimacing very slightly at the dull ache in her ribs that probably wasn't helped by the tight bandaging around her entire upper torso that restricted her breathing a little bit. "Alive?" Zack turned to her, half-serious.

"You sure know how to pick a fight, kid. What do we call you?"

Oh, did she ever know why he seemed familiar! He had been one of the guys that had shown up looking for the young man of the Loveless household. Him and this other guy, real muscular with black hair and a huge-butt sword. She grimly remembered how the other guy had stood there stifling his laughter while Diana discovered that the fact that, although no men from the Loveless family were available, that didn't mean that the young SOLDIER wasn't deterred from trying to get a date with her. Of course. Just her luck that her commanding officer was someone who she'd encountered appearing as a girl.

"Devon Loveless. And, yes, I am in fact nineteen and legal," she added on before Zack could open his mouth again. Of all people—why him? This was so bad.

He laughed. "Well, Devon, I wish we could all borrow a little bit of that, ah, determination of yours. I'll see you all around. Take care of yourself, kid." He vanished off to somewhere again. Diana had noticed offhandedly that he had spectacular eyes. They hardly looked human, a deep blue that showed some purple and could be spotted in a crowd in no time at all.

Cloud trotted up to her anxiously. "Um, hello? Heard of subtlety?"

"Not one of my stronger points."

"Clearly."

"Let's just get the damn keys," she growled at a sudden twinge of pain originating from somewhere between her chest and her waist, twisting her torso around in discomfort. At least some odds were stacked in her favor; her lovely little time of month had ended mere days ago, giving her a good head start to adjust without any extra grief added. Although she was certain that it would be more than compromised for in other respects.

-------------

Each dorm was really like a small apartment and connected with an adjoining one, sharing a kitchen. Diana and Cloud were lucky enough to be next to two guys called Max and Shane, a couple of lax goofballs who immediately lightened any mood.

"Yo! Mind if we crash your place?" Max joked, bursting into the room with a lazy-looking Shane in tow. He flopped on the couch as Diana was silently lamenting the fact that there was no door between the rooms. At least the bathroom had a lock. She would be so paranoid within a day that she didn't know if she'd ever be able to use a public restroom again.

"Feel free," Cloud said dryly, his mouth quirking to the side.

"He-ey, fighter kid! How goes it?" This was directed at Diana.

"I'm still breathing, aren't I?" _If a little bruised…_ she amended.

"I'd like to know how. No offense kid but you ain't exactly the top of the food chain," Shane uncrossed his arms and looked at her curiously.

She shrugged vaguely and grunted. "Don't mention it; I get that a lot. It's just stuff I've picked up over the years. No big deal."

"Dude, you must have like some wicked stuff in the water or something wherever you from, cause, man, I dunno if I'd even last against that guy. You lucky the commander was there anyway." Max made a face.

"Lucky? No kidding. I would've been dead eventually. Luck usually does its best to avoid me," she snorted, remembering her bad luck involving their commanding officer.

There was a knock, more like a bang, on the door and it opened half a second later to reveal, speak of the devil, Zack Fair poking his head in. "Mess hall at six, just reminding—Well, if it isn't our fierce little friend." He grinned at Diana. Perfect. All she needed was to be singled out from the beginning, and by him, too, she thought glumly as Zack got the names of the others.

Then she noticed the closer, more focused gaze of Zack on her. "You know, kid, I think you remind me of somebody. Have I seen you before?"

"Not before today, sir," she lied stiffly. Well, it was hardly a lie! Sort of. All she'd done was tell him her brother was away and try to close the door on him to no avail for several minutes.

Besides, she had looked like a girl then and he probably knew millions of girls, looking like he did. Why did all these guys have to be so damned attractive—? She mentally smacked herself on the forehead. She couldn't start thinking that way! Then again, it was just a natural human emotion. There was nothing wrong with that, right? Yeah, except you're bunking with three of them, she thought. Crap. This was gonna be interesting.

"Huh. Guess it was someone else. Anyway. I'll be seeing you all later."

Diana let out a barely audible whimper as he closed the door.

"Whazzup?" Cloud cocked his head at her.

"Six? I think I'll die before then…" she improvised, stalking off to the kitchen to cover up her issues. A loud rumble came from Shane's general direction as she passed him. She gave him a look. "Guess we all might."

The brunette grinned sheepishly. "Forgot breakfast. Thought Mum was going to stop me from going for a little while there…"

Diana paused in her hunt through the already-stocked fridge. Her parents. She wondered what they were doing. Did they understand? There was no way they could guess the truth in a million years. She hadn't ever talked about SOLDIER with them, only with her cousin Jonathan, who had patiently explained to her why girls couldn't join up. "Too dangerous." "Weapons of mass destruction." "Monster nests." The list went on and on. Well, she was going to prove them wrong, she thought grimly, seizing a carton of eggs and some bacon.

Ten minutes later, three boys were scarfing down bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast while Diana cleaned up the kitchen in between bites.

"Dude—you can—_cook!_" Max managed around a mouthful.

"I'm feelin' lucky we're sharing a kitchen with you guys," Shane said.

"You have got some serious skills," agreed Cloud wholeheartedly.

"Come on guys, 's not that hard," Diana laughed.

"No, really—" Max protested. "You sure are—full—of surprises, kid." He waved his fork at her.

_You've got no idea_. "Well, I've got a sister so…you pick these things up, ya know?" she invented. She then congratulated herself. If anything vaguely girly slipped through, she could pretend that it was just her "sister's" influence. Heck, why not call this sister by her own name? If anyone found the records their names would at least be right.

"Sister? You got a sister?" Shane perked up.

She brandished a frying pan at him menacingly. "Believe me, you don't wanna be thinking _that_. She'd smash your head in at the least."

"Not me. No chick could hurt me!" He proclaimed.

Max snorted. "Why, because of your dashing good looks?"

"Obviously." The grinning brunette stood up on his chair dramatically, striking a pose. Diana made use of the frying pan, although not too harshly, and he immediately fell down into the chair again, clutching his knee. "Agghh! No fair!"

"You should know, all's fair in love and war!" she quipped brightly.

A/N: The plot thickens… So now that it's all a little more developed, reviews are great :) Well, they're always great, but still. Just imagine an amazingly hot Zack standing behind you and telling you to post a review…


	3. The Art of Lies and Truths

Fearless

**Disclaimer: And again, I own no thing of anything… SquareEnix does, however, if I'm not mistaken.**

**A/N: So, finally, the chapter's longer and some more exciting stuff gets set in motion. …And cue the Cloti stuff! (Yay—love those two.) Poor Diana's trying to lie through her teeth all the time and it's killing her with all the confusion and trying to act as if she were a guy:( Some funny and rather delicate situations ensue, so be prepared! :) Enjoy, with any luck at all.**

**Chapter 3: The Art of Lies and Truths**

Diana had decided one thing: bathroom routines were a pain. Sure, she was low-maintenance, but she didn't trust Max and his lock-picking skills anywhere as near as far as she could throw him. At least she had some peace of mind when she knew that since she showered at night, there was less of a chance of any unwelcome visitors or people showing up at the door that she had to talk to while her bandages were off. Speaking of which, by the following morning she was a little more used to them. It was like a really tight sports bra; only it took a little longer to get on and off.

The newbies were told to report to one of the practice rooms where they'd start learning the basics of hand-to-hand combat. Everyone, including Gigantor from yesterday, milled around, unsure of whom to expect to walk through the door at the end of the large wooden-paneled room.

The wall of mirrors on one side was a little disorienting at first and Diana was just waiting for someone to walk into the perfect glass by accident. When the door at the opposite end of the room opened, Diana was sure that no one was expecting who came through it. They had thought maybe Zack; he seemed more of the jumpy, active type than, for example, Sephiroth.

No, this was a young woman, and she didn't look very old at all either, maybe twenty. She had long, dark brown hair and brown eyes, and was Diana's equivalent in stature except that she looked stronger and seemed much more in control of herself. Every movement seemed carefully calculated and had the grace of a panther. She wore a sleeveless top, leggings, a skirt split for free movement, and boots, all black.

The murmurings increased in intensity. "I thought girls weren't allowed!" Diana indignantly whispered to Cloud, though not for the reasons that someone uninformed of her situation would assume.

"Not in SOLDIER. She's a martial artist so she's perfectly fine. There are female scientists, and medics, too, but no SOLDIERs."

She noticed something just the tiniest bit off in his voice and looked at him to see that he was distracted, openly staring at the young woman. Diana smirked. She knew a crush at first sight when she saw one. And she had seen plenty. Not surrounding her, of course. All about her handsome brother. She smiled a little at the memories, absently touching a scar that ran across one cheek.

"Hey. My name's Tifa and they tell me I'm supposed to be your instructor in hand-to-hand combat. We're not trusting you with any kinds of weapons until we know you can use your natural defense, the one thing you always have to back you up."

Cloud was practically dying next to her with his mouth half open and on its way to catching a fly, and Diana lightly chucked him under the chin. He looked confused at the knowing look the smaller "guy" gave him before turning his attention back to the girl at the front of the room.

Tifa was taking stock of them, apprehensive expressions and all. "Now I see this may come as a shock to you, but yes, I am in fact female. What a concept. Lesson one: don't judge a book by the cover." She was pretty, all right, in a tough, down-to-earth kind of way that went with her personality. Something that Diana already knew that Cloud would be attracted to. What the perfect setup.

Tifa had turned away from them to shut and lock the door again; the wind had knocked it open. She fumbled with the keys and Diana took the time to figure out who was staring at her. She had felt like someone was looking at her for the past minute and she glanced around casually to see Gigantor practically boring a hole in the back of her head with his eyes. She met them squarely.

"Still having trouble learning, I see," she said quietly, but pitched so that he could hear her several yards away.

He snarled and slowly curled one fist, pausing when Cloud took a step toward Diana. Max and Shane proved to be loyal by following suit. He now fixed his death glare on the blonde, who effortlessly held his gaze coolly.

Meanwhile, Tifa was rummaging in a storage closet with her back turned toward the quietly chatting group, most of which was focused on the minor confrontation. "Now, if the large young man would kindly stop looking like he wants to kill the blonde…" she commented nonchalantly. _The rather attractive blonde, _she added in her head, not yet realizing that she already knew him.

Gigantor gave an appropriately large start and looked confused, as did many others of the men.

_Score one for Tifa, _Diana thought smugly. She was liking this girl more and more.

However, by the end of the day, most of the men seemed to think she was the devil incarnate. She certainly wasted no time in whipping them into shape, and wasn't afraid to make corrections and push things beyond their limits. Diana decided that she would have made a good drill sergeant, but she really had to admire her. So far Tifa hadn't shown them too many of what were sure to be a multitude of tricks up her sleeve, but Diana knew that Tifa wasn't their trainer for nothing. She even started looking up to her a little by the time the day was over. She groaned quietly. _Oww…_ Okay, well, that still didn't do anything to lessen the pain.

The second day of training, they all got a surprise at around eleven A.M. It came in the form of Zack Fair paying a visit.

"Hey Tifa! How they holding up?"

"Hi Zack. Not bad actually."

Zack nodded and grinned at the already-suffering newbies. Those had been grim days…but then again, Tifa hadn't been the trainer when he was in their place. He had a feeling that he had gotten off easy in some ways. He went over to Tifa to talk to her out of earshot. "What's your take so far?"

"I was telling the truth when I said they aren't doing bad. Considering the crowds I sometimes get."

"Any surprises? Optimism? I hate to say it, but, ones that won't pass?" He grimaced. He hated trying to deal with the ones who couldn't take it, who got left behind. But then, most of the men who didn't give up voluntarily along the way made it, and if they came back for seconds they were sure to get into SOLDIER. A surprising number left before the few weeks were up, however. A lot of the men seemed to just be trying to find their strengths in the world, and only the really determined ones stuck around and then actually became third class SOLDIERs. No one wanted to be stuck as a grunt the rest of their life.

"Hard to tell at this point, but going by first impressions…" she scanned the room for a target.

"Ah. See over there, the redhead?"

"Which one? You're being too general."

"There's exactly one in this entire room, O High and Mighty Commander." She playfully punched him in the arm.

"Got it, got it, no need to mock the visually impaired."

She snorted quietly. "As if. Well, he may look gangly and flimsy, but both he and his buddy there, don't be fooled by them." Zack nodded. "However, Supersizer there can't do much to save his life. Nowhere remotely close to quick-on-his-feet, not to mention with some anger control issues. I suppose give him a honking big sword and he'll be fine, if you can wave things around uncontrollably hoping you hit who you're supposed to and call it "fine"." She gestured at the hulk of a man.

Zack sighed. "I guessed as much. Ah well. I'll see what I can do. We can't have any of them failing, now can we?"

"Mm. Oh, but the whole time he and his pals have been having a staring death match with that little posse over yonder." She jerked her head toward the far side of the room where "Devon", Cloud, Shane, and Max were doing their drills. "You know anything about it? I feel like the little one's gonna get pummeled if that's what it comes down to."

The black-haired man chuckled. "Oh, I know it all right. Broke it up on day one. The kid, Devon, was holding his own, though."

"No way. Against that…thing?"

"Yeah way. Got in a few good ones himself. They were no mistakes, either—you think the kid has potential?"

"Well, he's certainly quick and nimble enough. That comes with skinny and breakable, though."

"True, but you have to admire his spirit. If there's one thing Devon isn't, it's a quitter. Cloud too. He's tough on the inside. I dunno about their other buddies but they seem determined enough." He caught a surprised and then thoughtful look crossing Tifa's face when he mentioned Cloud's name. "What."

"Hm? Nothing. Just, you know, thinking. So him over there, what's his name? He doesn't seem too bright, but…" she artfully reengaged the blessedly oblivious Zack in consultation.

"Hey, guys. I think Zack and Tifa are scoping us all out. You know, analyzing," Shane said, a little nervously.

Cloud's eyes immediately zoned out and Diana gave him a second before throwing the heavy weighted ball back at him. He panicked slightly as he barely snagged it, then dutifully pretended like nothing was the matter.

_Guys, _Diana thought._ What's so difficult for them? Reading and sending signals? Forget it. Never mind interpreting said signals. Those two are _so _obviously into each other. I think we're in need of a little free time to plan a setup._ She resisted the urge to snicker evilly. It made her wonder what Zack was doing in his free time, seeing as how they were in Tifa's hands for a week. Probably handling the real SOLDIERs. For some reason she was a little jealous. She supposed it was because he was so good. He was awfully young for a first class and she wanted every opportunity she could get to learn from the best. Well…speaking of the best…but she somehow felt like another certain silver-haired first class wasn't quite as much of a people person as Zack was.

--------------

Showers, she decided, were just about the best medicine in the world. Also having a room temporarily to yourself. That was definitely up there. All three of the guys had headed off to "just walk around" after dinner, they said. Right.

"'Familiarize ourselves with the premises', my ass," she muttered. She hoped they wouldn't run into the Gigantor squad. As she pulled on a pair of cutoff leggings and a tank top she noticed that her hair had turned curly after her shower. She made an exasperated noise. That morning it had been perfectly straight and manageable! Maybe it would be back that way in the morning. It was too bad there was no pattern she could follow to predict it. Like her eyes. She glanced in the mirror and saw that, for now, they were cat green. It was that or gray or some muddiness in between, and she wasn't sure which she preferred. That was what she got for having her DNA messed with! She sighed. But then, if it hadn't been, there would have been no guarantee of a Devon in her life. And that was more than a blessing in itself. She carefully started brushing out her curls and was so absorbed in her thoughts that she uncharacteristically didn't even flinch when the door opened, albeit silently.

"Oh!"

She heard a little exclamation from the doorway and she whirled fast, realizing several things with confusion: one, it was a woman's voice. And two, Max hadn't locked the door like she had asked him to! That idiot. And she wasn't wearing her bandages! What was she going to—?!

She blinked. "…Tifa?"

"Sorry, I'll, um, leave now…" Tifa murmured with downcast eyes.

Diana suddenly realized the implications here. She obviously wasn't recognized. She was a girl. And she was in Cloud's room. This was so not okay. She quickly ran through possible excuses and scenarios in her head before Tifa backed out of the room.

Well, she had to confide in somebody eventually and who better than another girl who defied expectations herself? She took a leap of pure faith.

"Tifa. It's me."

The girl looked up in confusion. "E-excuse me? Sorry, I don't think I know you…"

"Oh, silly me," she tsked. "Don't freak out, _please_." Diana deftly twisted her hair into the ponytail that she dutifully kept and deepened her voice. "It's me."

Tifa stared for about half a second before it clicked, and another second before she clapped her hands over her mouth. "_Oh _my—"

"Shhh! Come here, come here, come in." Diana quickly locked the door behind her.

"What…how…what are you doing? I mean…" Tifa was utterly confused.

"Look, I'm sorry, I knew I would have to talk to someone eventually but I promise you I wasn't planning on springing it on them like this."

"Right. Right. Okay. Wow." She was losing her normal calm, cool, and collected demeanor. She breathed deeply. "You are one brave chick."

"Insane is more like it."

"You run away?"

"Had to."

"What's your real name?"

"Diana."

"Diana. Hey Diana. I'm Tifa," she started smiling again, if shakily.

"Hey Tifa, again. Um, but I should say that—the real Devon does…he _did _exist."

Tifa grasped what she was saying and almost choked on her own breath. Oh, no…that was terrible. She hugged the girl. "I'm so sorry."

Diana had tried to move on enough so that she wouldn't just curl up into a ball of misery and dissolve into a puddle. She took a quavering breath. "Thanks. It's okay, though." After a moment of deep breathing she brought up the matter at hand. "You won't—"

Tifa let her go and looked her square in the face. "Tell? Are you kidding? I was _thiiiis_ close to doing exactly what you are myself. I couldn't deal with the weapons, though, so…"

She grinned. "Thank the Goddess. I was starting to think you just enjoy torturing men all day."

Tifa laughed. "Don't worry, that's not my only interest."

"Speaking of. You were looking for Cloud?"

She actually almost blushed shyly! "Yeah."

"I knew it," she crowed. "But he and Max and Shane are off doing who-knows-what who-knows-where for who-knows-what-purposes. Honestly, I think he was just about ready to come see you himself."

"Really?" the martial artist perked up.

"For real. Wait—hang on a sec while I get dressed and everything."

"You using bandages?"

"Yeah."

"Figures. It hurt at all?"

"Just a little. I've gotten pretty used to it, and besides it's more than worth it," she called, closing the bathroom door. She emerged a moment later as Devon, thoroughly throwing Tifa for a loop again.

"Wow, you can really pull that off! I mean, not that way, I never would guess it, but…"

Diana grinned anyway. "Thanks Teef. Can I call you Teef?"

"If I can call you Di."

"Deal. But—okay—so I'm having a major identity crisis here—no pun intended!" she flailed her hands helplessly as Tifa burst out laughing at the irony. Diana gave her new friend a mock glare. "Now, this is the problem: I met Zack once before I came here. At home, in Kalm. _As a girl._"

Tifa stopped giggling and gave the girl who she suddenly felt so close to an odd look. "Ohmigosh, wait, you're from Kalm? Like, the Northern continent? Wow, it seems so far away…"

"Yeah, it sometimes seems a little distant. But there, I feel…I feel free, you know?" She lapsed into a moment of thought. "But anyhow. Zack…that's a _problem_," Diana stressed.

"Well, so you met him, so what, right? Oh my gosh—did he, like, come onto you?"

"Um—well—kinda—you could call it that…" she trailed off weakly and Tifa started snickering again. "But he asked me earlier if he knew me!"

Her friend sobered again. "_Oh_. Wait, so he thought you looked familiar? But he didn't know how or why."

"That's what he told me. But he remembered my face! That's not good! I'm being singled out from the get-go." Diana gave Tifa a despairing look. "And I'm sure he enlightened you on the subject of my little run-in with Giant Something-or-other."

"Ah. Yes, that. But still, congrats on holding your own, girl!"

Diana rolled her eyes. "Back to the matter at hand. I've been telling the guys—but not Zack yet, I haven't had any kind of real conversation with him—that I have a sister, so I figure that covers up for any femininity that slips by, me meeting Zack as a girl while my brother…" she broke off for a few reasons. She was going to have to explain that whole delicate situation to Tifa another time. It was still a touchy subject and she didn't want to just be standing here discussing it, and…there were laughing voices coming from down the hall. Three rather familiar voices.

"Shit!" Diana cursed as she flew to the door and threw the lock open. "Make it look like you just walked in!" she hissed.

Tifa's eyes widened fractionally as she realized who it was. It was _him_…Goddess, but he had a beautiful laugh. She could tell it was his as the three drew closer to the door.

"—But I don't know when he'll be back, they left about an hour ago and I'm not sure where he… Hey, here they are now! Guys, look who just stopped by!" Diana said out of nowhere with a little more emphasis than was really necessary. Guys of course had no sense of signals so Tifa was the only one who gave her a fleeting weird look before she caught up with Diana's thoughts and played along.

"Tifa!"

"Heeey, Tifa!"

"…Tifa?" Cloud had an expression of pleasant surprise on his face that was slightly fogged by confusion. What was Tifa doing here…with Devon…?

"Perfect," Diana grinned, picking up on Cloud's emotions and playing it extremely safe. She had always had a gift for reading people, especially men. It was useful enough, to put it mildly. "Tifa just came looking for you." This she clearly and blatantly addressed to Cloud.

Tifa shot her a look. "D-Devon…" she stumbled over the name, but it just made the act better. However, Diana was not by any means convinced that her friend was purely acting.

"Really?" Cloud's doubts disappeared and he unabashedly stared at Tifa. He looked like he wasn't in complete control of himself. "I was going to come looking for _you_."

"Ain't that just a coinkidink," Max drawled, apparently not as clueless as he let on.

"Well, five's a crowd, you two get going and catch up and enjoy yourselves!" Diana practically shoved the meant-to-be pair out the door, much to the amusement of the other two young men. She slumped against the door in relief and opened it cautiously a moment later to see them wandering down the hallway close together, Cloud making Tifa laugh. She gave the thumbs-up to Shane and Max inside the room and then informed them that she was going on a little adventure of her own, and no, she would not be stalking the couple with a camera. Satisfied, she left them to their own (probably destructive) devices and headed for the stairwell at the opposite end of the hall from where Tifa and Cloud had gone.

She wandered along on autopilot, thinking of nothing at all, and absently flung the door open—to walk straight into a wall of muscle and black clothing. _Of course_, she despaired inside. She stepped back hastily and snapped a salute. "Sir!"

Zack Fair laughed. "At ease, kid. Didn't expect to run into anyone around the dorms now. Most everyone's in the mess."

"And who's this newbie, or are you going to leave him staring at me for much longer?" said what first appeared to be a larger, insanely more muscular version of Zack behind him. Only his hair fell almost to his shoulders in black sheets and his eyes were brown instead of Zack's brilliant blue. Now that Diana stopped staring and actually looked, his features were much blunter, as well as older than Zack. Oh…damn. This was an oddly familiar scenario. This was pretty much exactly what had happened when _these exact two_ had come to her house looking for Devon!

"Sorry Angeal. This is Devon Loveless. Devon, this is Angeal Hewley; he's a SOLDIER first class and my mentor."

Angeal cracked a good-natured smile. "And he's my puppy." He ruffled Zack's spiky hair.

"Agghh! Angeeeal…" Zack got a pained expression that looked especially funny on his slightly boyish face. Diana couldn't hold back a smile.

"Say, Loveless, where are you from? Feel like I've seen you before," Angeal commented, leaving Zack alone for the time being. _Loveless?_ He thought. _Let's all pray Genesis doesn't learn this kid's name, he'll be doomed and never escape…_

Marvelous. Not only Zack, but his mentor recognized her as well? This kept getting better. "Kalm, sir."

Zack suddenly snapped his fingers. "I remember now!" Oh fudge. "You weren't there when we came looking for you! Girl answered the door, said you were away on an apprentice…ship…" He looked at her suspiciously.

"About that, sir. I left the apprenticeship. Didn't suit me, you see, and what I really wanted was to be here. But, I hadn't gotten word to my family yet. It must have been my twin sister who you saw, sir."

He showed no shame in gaping at her. "_Twin sister?_ Oh, jeez!" He smacked himself on the forehead. "I'm so dumb. Damn, kid, you have one attractive sister," he muttered the last part, thinking "Devon" couldn't near him. How wrong he was.

_Attractive? Attractive, to Zack? If I wanted to put it in plain terms, I could say that my commanding officer thinks I'm attractive without even knowing it's me. Well. Hello, there, _she thought in a mild panic. _Chill. Show no signs._

"You okay, man?" Zack tilted his head to the side, taking her in with his expressive blue eyes. Angeal was right: he really was like a puppy.

"Yeah. Erm, yessir. It's just, I haven't been on the best, ah, terms with my…sister…" she invented and trailed off lamely, but it actually sounded appropriately vague.

"I won't pry. Call me Zack, man. Sir makes me feel old and formal like Angeal," he joked, earning himself a jab in the ribs from his previously quiet mentor.

"Yes s—Zack."

"Cool. Well, gotta run, see you around, kid!" he waved cheerily, retreating down the hall behind Angeal.

Diana raised a hand and nodded to him, not relaxing until they were out of sight. _Too close. Ugh. At least my facts haven't contradicted with each other yet. I'm pretty sure I've got my story all straight. Except the truth, which I'm telling to Tifa ASAP._

She wandered for about twenty uneventful minutes before getting bored and returning to the room where Max and Shane were making, er, burning popcorn.

Cloud joined them about half an hour later, looking dreamy. "Teef and I are going to the party together," he sighed happily.

"The who?" Shane said with his mouth full.

"The lovebirds, doofus," Max rolled his eyes.

"No, I mean what party?"

"Duh! The one, like, tomorrow night? _The huge_ party? Ringing a bell?"

"Ohh. That."

"Durrr." Max mocked his friend.

"And there'll be _girls_," Diana said meaningfully, keeping up the act. "I am _so_ setting up dates for you two."

"Hey hey hey! What about you, huh?" Max grinned mischievously.

"Ohhhh no. No no no. Spare me, please!"

"Aw, come on, why?"

She grinned in what she hoped was a guy-ish way. "I like to take my pick, say, in the spur of the moment." She flung an arm out dramatically, narrowly missing Max's brown head.

"Point taken! Fine then." He couldn't resist an evil laugh. "We'll be watching you, though…" he threatened. "Be prepared to follow through on that." Diana cringed in mock dread, making all but a lovestruck Cloud laugh.

**A/N: Ohhh boy. So, she told someone her secret :O Well, it had to happen sometime. And then there's the party coming up…how's she gonna handle this one? What can she pull out of her sleeve? Oh, and hey, is anyone picking up on the funniness of her name? I can't wait til Genesis does meet her. It's gonna be fuuuunny. I saw someone in the paper or something with the last name Loveless and I was like *gasp* that's such a cool name! Hmm…crisis core…Genesis? Fanfic!! I have great thoughts. So, thank you, whoever's name that was!**

**By the way… In the way of reviews, I always appreciate them but only have a few so far:( Please? Like, even if you don't like something, **_**especially**_** if you don't like it, tell me! Particularly on my style—back to basics. Too rushed? Not enough of an image of what's going on? Confusing, unclear? Not enough character development? Let me know! :) Thanks a lot.**


	4. Talk About A Double Life

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: All from SquareEnix, except for my OC. Blah…**

**A/N: Okay, YourChemicalRomancexx, you said bring on the ZaDi, you got it! It's party time…literally. Yeah, so this encompasses two of my absolute favorite scenes so far (I sorta told you this, UltimateFreedom) and if I say any more I'll give it away so here ya go! :)**

Chapter 4

"Uhrrr. Guys, really, you should go. No hope for me," Diana tried to grin weakly two nights later. She was, of course, feigning illness. But she had had years of practice and she thought she was actually rather good at it. Apparently her roommates were taking it hook, line, and sinker.

She had taken an eyeliner pencil that she'd brought along for emergencies and smudged a little under her eyes to make her look overtired and a total mess already. She had purposely worn too many layers for the past few hours and started to work up a sweat, and now she blinked it out of her unfocused eyes as she contemplated her three concerned friends.

"Dude, I would say you just wanted to get out of this, but, man, not gonna lie; you don't look so great," Shane grimaced, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, I know it. Don't worry, though—tell me everything later. Don't sweat it. There's that other thing coming up soon too, remember? I can go then. I absolutely forbid you to come back here before eleven," she told them as sternly as she should have been able to manage in her hoarse voice. Sure, she felt pretty bad lying to them. But it was needed. They murmured their compliances and left, and she waited for a few minutes before she got up carefully and checked to make sure they were really gone. Then she double-bolted the door.

Of course she wanted to go to the party! She was _so_ not going as a guy, though. It was so out of the question, she couldn't even articulate it properly. She pulled on a blue dress that fell to just past her knees that had been her favorite—well, one of her only—dresses back at home. She ran through her story again in her head should she meet one of her friends, or anyone who might recognize her. She wiped the smudges from under her eyes and used a tiny bit of the eyeliner where it was supposed to be—and only a bit. The raccoon-eyes look just wasn't her thing.

Actually, it wasn't anybody's thing; some people just chose to overlook that fact. She brushed her hair out while piling pillows and various things under her sheets so it looked like a human lying there asleep under a multitude of covers. The guys wouldn't exactly be in a state to notice detail if they came back before her, though. She would be fine. She appraised her reflection after making sure all her things were safely stowed away. Her hair bounced in soft curls and her eyes were emerald green; exactly the way she'd been when she had met Zack. She shook her head fiercely. Why did she keep thinking back to that day?

Banishing any thoughts of certain handsome commanders from her mind, she unbolted the door and slipped silently into the hallway. It wouldn't do for someone to see a girl mysteriously emerging from one of the guys' rooms. She padded down the hall in the flats that she had reconstructed herself. She had fortified the sole with strips of leather and embedded a thin sheet of metal around inside the toe of the shoe. Places where she was likely to blister were covered with pieces of soft cloth. They were incredibly comfortable and surprisingly easy to move in—that was how she had remade them, after all.

Diana knew she'd get lost if it hadn't been for the noise of a party coming from…somewhere. She followed it through the corridors and courtyards, finally coming upon a large, high-ceilinged room with lots of bright lights and loud people. At least she would have room to blend in. Who knew she'd be here, pretending to be herself? How weird. She grinned to herself. No one said she had to keep up her charade on a party night.

She located a side door and edged inside, smoothing her dress and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. But she knew she was fighting a losing battle, as at least one set of eyes seemed to be glued to her at any given time. She wove through the crowd and nearly had a heart attack when she saw Shane, coincidentally the most perceptive of her friends, mere feet away.

Panicking, she ducked behind a very large young man…oh. Oh dear. Of course he would be here, too. She evaded the malignant mountain before he had time to notice her and promptly decided that she was sure to develop claustrophobicism if she hung around in here with so many (mostly bigger) people making so much noise. Besides, the huddles of giggling girls who were visiting and waiting to be accosted by the soldiers were getting on her nerves. At least her friends seemed to be living it up and weren't worried about her "sickness." But then, they were men. What could one expect? Diana escaped out a set of double doors, unseen. Or so she thought.

* * *

One of Zack's friends elbowed him. "Come on Zack, have some fun! Find a girl and get goin'!"

He sighed. "I'm not about to go off frolicking with just any girl, you know. Unlike some I could mention."

"…Okay, point taken. What you waiting for, huh?"

"I dunno." His face immediately shut down.

"Aw, come on… You can tell me," his friend wheedled.

Zack sighed again. "Just someone…different, I guess?" He just didn't know how to put it into words.

He blinked. "Well, lemme know. For now, I'm off!"

"Whatever." Zack rolled his eyes at his player of a friend. He scanned the crowd yet again. This was getting tiresome, and a group of girls at the edge of the throng were eyeing him a little bit more than he would have liked. He narrowed his focus abruptly, smack in the center of the room. Who was that? He'd seen most of these girls before but this one didn't look familiar. He wished she would turn so he could see more of her face…where was she going? The girl had woven between a few people and disappeared off to one side. Giving an uneasy glance to his pack of unwanted admirers, he tried to track her through the mass of people.

He just thought he had lost sight of her when he was momentarily blinded by the piercing shine of the lights off glass. His azure gaze snapped to the source of the glare and saw a slender figure in a blue dress disappear out a door. So she was trying to hide, was she? She hadn't looked very comfortable in the crowd. Should he follow her? He considered for a fraction of a second. Of course he should! She had captured his attention immediately; that was an automatic signal that she was special. He effortlessly made his way to where he had seen her last and followed through the door.

_Another courtyard? _It wasn't where Diana had come in, so that meant… _Where does this go?_

She glanced down a dark passageway but couldn't dwell on it due to the fact that an unmistakable head of black spikes had appeared in the doorway. Her head surprisingly clear and unflustered, she melted into the shadows behind a convenient stack of crates and hardly dared to breathe as she heard the door shut and footsteps move towards her. _Not here not here not here _

_I'm not here, oh please I'm not here…_

Zack paused. He knew exactly where she was hiding but he wasn't going to let on. He wasn't a first class for nothing, after all. Well, if the mystery girl was going to be so stubborn…

Diana waited for a full thirty seconds after she heard Zack stop, turn, and walk quickly off down one of the halls. She tentatively stepped out from her hiding place and opened her eyes wide to see better in the dim light that was filtering out from the party. No one was there. Just then, a human shape shifted in one of the dark abysses to her right. Without thinking, she turned and fled in the opposite direction, her judgment clouded by instant alarm.

_Shit! Genius, in a dress and nowhere-near-running shoes!_ She scolded herself as whoever it was followed her at a more leisurely pace. She didn't think it was Zack. Zack made too much noise and wasn't patient enough to sound like this when he was chasing someone. She turned a corner, then another, and another, past an antechamber, and to the left again… Her breath came a little quicker, not from exertion, but rather from the paranoia that she sometimes got in the dark. She just wanted to get _out_, and there was no open space. Although, the footsteps behind her had faded. Every slight shadow jumped up to meet her and she felt like she had to scream. She needed to see something, anything familiar, just somewhere open would be good… She was racing faster and faster, and rocketed around the corner with a slightly frightened glance back over her shoulder.

And slammed right into a pair of arms that seemed to have been waiting for her. They caught her by the shoulders and she looked up fearfully.

"Whoa there. Where're you going in such a rush?" grinned none other than her commander.

"I wish I knew." She said truthfully, while attempting to retain a hold on her composure. It was only a matter of time before—

Zack took a sharp intake of breath. "_Oh_ my…" What the hell? This chick looked freaking exactly like the newbies Devon Loveless! Wait—no—he knew her. A few things clicked together and he realized that this was Devon's sister whom he had seen that time in Kalm. In that respect, he was correct. What he didn't realize was that the two were now one and the same.

He shook his head. "Sorry. I think we met before?"

"You do look familiar," she agreed, going with the act.

"Are you by any chance Devon's sister?"

"That would be me—oh! Oh, you came by looking for him, before I knew…what he did…" she got quieter. "He is here now, isn't he?"

"Actually, I haven't seen him all night, but we can probably track him down—" He didn't want to let her leave so soon! Thankfully, he didn't have to do much to prolong their time together.

"No, that's okay, it-it's really better if he doesn't know I'm here." She hung her head and realized that they were still hanging on to each other. She relaxed her grip on his arms and he quickly let go of her shoulders.

"I see." Zack digested this, remembering something Devon had said about him not being on the best terms with his twin right now. "Well, at least let me help you find your way to wherever." He certainly wasn't going to let the opportunity pass!

"Really?" she brightened.

"Anything for a pretty girl like you," he flashed another smile at her and she blushed. She _actually_ blushed! What was wrong with her? Damn hormones. But she slipped her arm through his proffered one all the same. "You know, I never did get your name," he mused.

"It's Diana."

"Diana. Your name fits you."

"Thanks, I guess. And I already know who you are," she smiled when he opened his mouth.

"Oh? And how would that be?"

"Are you kidding? Everyone knows you. My brother fairly idolizes you," she scoffed, knowing how true it was before remembering that she _was _her brother. That was going to be embarrassing. Oh well.

"Does he now?" Zack laughed and ruffled his hair self-consciously with his free hand. The spikes shifted and Diana caught the glint of a black earring. "You must get this a lot, but it's kind of unbelievable how…twin-like…you and Devon are," he said, for lack of a better word.

"You've no idea how much," she said dryly. She couldn't help but laugh at her private joke.

Zack listened in wonder. Her laugh was like magic. He was suddenly hyperaware of their entwined arms. What was this girl doing to him?

"Come to think of it," she stopped her chiming laugh, "What were you doing out here? It _was _you following me, wasn't it?" she asked suspiciously.

"Ah…yeah…" He smiled slightly and his eyes flicked down for a second.

"Might I ask why?" she teased him.

"I saw you leave, and I thought I knew you, so I wanted to be sure…" He mentally smacked himself. That was a lame excuse. "Why did you hide?" he retorted swiftly.

"Well—I—didn't want—" it was her turn to stumble, "I just wanted to get away for a little bit and didn't want to be bothered… But you're not bothering me!" she added quickly and truthfully when his face fell slightly. They were somehow back to the courtyard now and had stopped walking.

"Are you sure?" he asked forlornly, looking very much like the puppy that Angeal so fondly called him.

"Of course I'm sure! You're good company," she smiled straight into his eyes. "_Beautiful,_" she murmured after a second and didn't realize she'd spoken aloud until Zack commented.

"What, my face?" Zack grinned insolently.

Diana laughed again. "Your eyes," she hit him lightly on the shoulder. Okay, so she wasn't going to deny that he was in fact beautiful. But the eyes jumped out the most…

"Mako eyes. Take a good look." He leaned closer, staring straight into the twin green orbs. "Although you're pretty special yourself."

She held his gaze. "That's one way to put it." The two didn't even realize that they were simply staring, literally being lost in the other's eyes, until a clock tower struck eleven-thirty and they both jumped slightly.

"Oh no!" Diana gasped. She had thought she would go back to the dorm early, just in case, but…it was already half an hour past when she had planned to leave? How? "I have to go!" she said agitatedly, turning this way and that.

"What? Why?" Zack blinked in confusion.

"I just—need to leave!" She made to turn away but Zack caught her hand and held it fast.

"…Will I see you again?" he asked, pain evident in the indigo depths of his eyes.

"I…yes. Yes, we will see each other again." Her expression cleared in certainty and she smiled.

"Soon?"

"I promise."

"Well, then…" he gently pulled on her hand and hugged her to him. She looked shocked for a second before wrapping her arms around his waist as well. He carefully stroked her shoulder-length hair once. He just couldn't help it. "I'll see you soon." He let her go.

"Goodbye…for now," she said as she backed away to the door, her eyes shining with unexpected and hardly concealed ecstasy. She quickly turned and flew back through the party room and in the direction of her dorm, unbeknownst to Zack. He stood looking after her for a long time before leaving for his own rooms.

Diana pressed her ear to the door to check for any noise, and hint that her friends were in the dorm. No sound. She eased the door open and blindly stumbled to the bathroom, where she had stowed her clothes. Jeez, she felt like a Cinderella, only one heck of a lot more complicated. Every part of her was quivering slightly and her thoughts were rushed and slightly incoherent. Goddess, she was such a mess! Calm down, already. What was wrong with her? Oh, well, gee, let's think… She tried to be quiet, with her jumbled thoughts crashing around her head, and changed quickly, emerging just as two very loud somethings slammed into what seemed to be the wall outside the room. Her eyes widened and she flung the door open.

"What the—?!" Max had come flying at her, giggling insanely. She stepped aside and he crashed to the floor inside. "Oh, jeez."

"Tell me about it," Shane groaned, rubbing his head. "He's even more of an idiot when he has too much to drink—"

"You gave him _alcohol?!_" She had to fight to keep her voice from "cracking." "No. Just don't say anything. Go to bed, you moron, you're drunk." This she directed at Max.

Max managed to stand and swayed precariously. "My friends, I swear to Drunk I'm not Gaia." He promptly passed out smack on the floor.

Diana glared at Shane. He shrugged. "He sure is a happy drunk," he offered.

"Where's our blonde friend?" she growled.

"Cloud? Uh, haven't seen him."

"You're so helpful."

"What! So _not _my fault," he said indignantly. "Hey, wait—are you feeling okay?" he looked at her suspiciously.

She made her shoulders sag appropriately. "Not particularly…I just got worked up, I guess," she slurred her words a little. "Ugh. I'm goin' back to bed…" she flopped over to where she wanted to be, inconspicuously clearing the various objects from under the sheets that had been meant to mask her absence. As Shane half dragged, half carried his unconscious friend into their room and said good night, Diana realized that she wouldn't sleep for a while yet. Too much was on her mind.

First, there was the constant stress of being discovered. That spoke for itself. And Tifa's safety, which was jeopardized if she _was _found out and it was revealed that Tifa had helped her. What would they do to either of them?

And her other friends…what was she going to do about them? They would hate her. Feel betrayed. Think they didn't really know her any more and that she had only used them to fit in as a SOLDIER. But that all depended on her keeping her secret. She could trust Tifa to keep quiet, without a doubt. It was incredibly liberating to have a friend that she could absolutely confide in and she wasn't about to threaten that.

And then there was Zack. What was she going to do about Zack? She absolutely couldn't let any kinds of feelings show while she was on duty or whatever. Not that she had any serious feelings for him that way in the first place! That would just turn into a mess. She just had to hide even more from the world. Fantastic. But she could still be his friend, right? Sure, he was her commanding officer, but he seemed to like her and she liked him. As a person. That was all. Then again…who said she had to be a guy _all_ the time? It got a little painful, in more ways than one. Why not "mysteriously disappear" for short periods of time occasionally and quite literally be herself? She would have to be careful…but she found herself thinking only of the time she could spend with Zack without having to hide so much. All right, so he was extremely attractive, but so were a lot of the guys around here. Heck, take her roommates, for example. And he had a sense of humor and was sweet, and…nope! The end! She could never have anything like that…especially not here. Sometimes she thought her last name was just destined for her. _Loveless._ She did her best to live up to it. She didn't plan for much of her future to revolve around a guy. She was way too picky for her own good, anyhow. If she could ever have someone, he needed to contradict himself. That sounded weird, but it was true. Strong, but gentle. Quick and intelligent, but laid-back. A born fighter who could really laugh. Choosing to ignore the inner voice that was hinting that Zack was, to be cliché, all she wanted and more, she rolled over and her thoughts gradually slowed their churning and sleep overtook her. It was tough trying to be two people at once.

A certain SOLDIER couldn't sleep for a while, either. He just couldn't stop thinking about the girl he'd met. _Diana_. What a sweet name. The only weird part was her scary likeness to her twin brother. Yet they were so different at the same time.

Sure, he could describe her as being hot, or immensely attractive, or whatever. But that seemed too shallow to do her justice. She had a depth to her that made mere prettiness seem cheap. She both intrigued and slightly annoyed him, in a weird way. It felt like she had a secret, something that she kept to herself that only showed itself in her ever-present secret little smile. The only thing that bothered him a little was why she had been running away from everyone, including him. Okay, so she probably hadn't known that it was him following her just then, but still. She must have just wanted to get a little fresh air, away from the party, but why run? Insatiable curiosity? He didn't think so. Well, maybe, but that wasn't quite the reason. She almost came off as paranoid. Something was off about the girl…but that didn't stop his feelings. He just couldn't stop remembering her smile, her laugh…the way she had looked at him and it felt like she had pierced his soul. She had worked some kind of magic on him, and boy, was it _strong_. So he intended to get more than a little more familiar with her. She gave him the oddest feeling, like she knew things that normal people didn't. She automatically stood out, but was obviously too shy to want to. That was one thing that she and her brother shared.

Speaking of Devon, Zack wondered how the kid would hold up for the next few weeks. He had to hand it to him—he had determination. Maybe a little too stubborn for his own good. Still, Zack had faith in him. He would see how he turned out. Besides, there were always the quitters who went home before the tests took place, but Zack didn't figure Devon Loveless to be a quitter. He would watch, and wait.

----------------

"What time did_ you _get home last night, sir?" Diana nudged a dreamy-looking Cloud at breakfast in the mess hall the next morning.

"…Hm?"

Max snorted. "Better question: what were you _doing_ that made you come home at whatever time last night?"

"Heyyy!" the blonde protested. "Nothing like that!"

"Well, what _did_ ya do?" Shane pressed.

"Caught up on the past few years and went—"

"Wait wait wait whooooa," Max held up a hand. "Caught up?"

"You knew each other before?" Diana asked incredulously. Tifa hadn't told her that…

"Well, we kinda grew up together in Nibelheim," Cloud admitted sheepishly.

"And you didn't tell us this _why?_" Max and Diana demanded in unison.

"Well, I didn't know if she'd remember me, and then I thought it would be awkward, but…" he murmured.

"Not remember you?" Diana made a face and Shane stopped nodding in agreement with Cloud.

"Of course she'd remember you! Girls remember, like, crazy amounts of stuff. I mean, I couldn't even tell you what I ate last night, but girls, they're all over any kinda memory thing. Sister," she reminded them when Max gave her a clear "how-and-why-do-you-know-these-things" look.

"Speaking of such a sister…" Max grinned slyly. "Tell us about this sister of yours."

She rolled her eyes. "If you really must know everything. Well, you'd probably classify her as midget-sized like me. And to tell the truth, we look scarily alike. It's a twin thing, I suppose."

Shane made a face when he saw a faraway look in Max's eyes. "Dude. Gross. Meet the chick before you start drooling. Besides, your friend's sister? To me that screams "what the hell," ya know?"

"I second that." Diana waved her fork at Max threateningly.

"I can dream, can't I?" he looked hopeful again. Diana just laughed her "man laugh."

"Hey guys. What's up?" Ah, hell. Of all people, Zack Fair joined them at their table, grinning his head off.

"N'much. Well, on second thought, ask Cloud here, I'm sure he's got plenty of good stories to tell." Shane raised his eyebrows. No reaction came from Cloud whatsoever. Cloud had made them all promise not to tell about him and Tifa, so Shane had stuck with subtlety.

Diana calmly continued eating. She had to act natural, because she wasn't even supposed to know that her "sister" had come "looking" for "Devon" last night. This was so confusing.

Zack was having a bit of a minor crisis himself. Seeing Diana's brother was unnerving. Diana had made him feel so remarkable and he couldn't stop thinking about her, seeing the little similarities between the twins. He wanted so badly to see her again… She had promised him that he would.

Whispers were starting around the breakfast tables. The commander was choosing to sit with a pack of cadets? However, most of them just shrugged and focused on their food, as males sometimes have a tendency to do.

Zack suddenly snickered for no apparent reason. Diana was the only one who noticed. "What?" she asked, still without looking up.

"Angeal and the rest of the Dynamic Trio are wondering what the hell I'm doing," he said calmly. Diana finally screwed up the courage to look at him and it unnerved them both, though not visibly. Recognition struck chords inside the two.

She swallowed. "How come?"

"Generally you stick to your class. But it gets so boring. They're all…_old_," he complained.

Diana laughed. "Wait, _what? _All the first classes are old?"

"Oh, right, cause you're the youngest right now, aren't you, commander?" Shane made a contribution.

"Not helping! Call me Zack," he snorted jokingly. "Although," he mused, "That means I can torment all you kids once you're in my place…"

Diana choked on her drink—thank goodness it was only water—and Max pounded her on the back. "Your place? Wish me luck," she muttered.

"Come on, don't say that. It'll come eventually, you'll see. Hey," he dropped his voice slightly, "what's up with Spiky?" He glanced at Cloud, who was staring absently into space and hadn't said a word.

"Oh, that." Max badly suppressed what sounded suspiciously like a giggle. "He's in loooove."

"Dude!" Shane hissed at him, then looked back at a confused Zack. "Oh, fine. Cloud'll have your head later, though."

Zack got a sly smile on his face, causing Diana's heart rate to pick up very slightly. She tried to calm and mentally scold herself, while her friends unknowingly stalled for her. "Who is it?" Zack asked offhandedly. "He meet her last night?" He denied to himself that he was praying that Cloud hadn't been near their friend's beautiful sister.

"Nuh-uh. Apparently they've known each other for longer than he was letting on," Max nudged the nonresponsive Cloud significantly. When that didn't work, he rolled his eyes and leaned over to whisper something to the blonde. He immediately snapped back to reality.

"Wha? Where? Huh…? Guys?"

"Nice of you to join us," Diana said dryly.

"Oh. Uh, heh, sorry 'bout that…oh, jeez! Commander," he jumped and resorted to formalities.

Zack exhaled emphatically. "Don't bother, Spiky. It's Zack."

"What, tired of your ex-superiors already?" Cloud joked, relaxing.

"That's one way to put it." A discussion ensued in which the other three filled Cloud in one what he had missed, and started firing questions at him about what he did last night. Diana, however, was long gone in her thoughts. She remembered that she had said what Zack just had to him last night, when he had told her that she was special. She didn't notice that she was zoning out completely with thoughts of…

"Yo. Gaia to Devon…" That certain someone was waving his hand in her face. She jumped slightly. What was she doing? She was worse than Cloud had been. Well, okay, maybe not _quite _as bad. She had no right to even be dwelling on last night's confusing events. "Maybe Cloud isn't the only one afflicted by love…" Zack grinned insolently. Diana bristled indignantly inside, in complete and total denial of such a thing although the others' assumptions would have been oddly backwards to the truth.

"I wasn't even out last night," she stated stubbornly.

"Huh? How come?"

"I wasn't feeling well." At this Zack got a disbelieving look on his face.

"No, really, man, you shoulda seen him…" Shane came to her rescue. It was still weirding her out to be referred to as "him."

"Jeez, that sucks, man. Alright for today?" Zack gave in.

"Never been better."

"Zack?" Angeal had suddenly materialized behind his "puppy." Diana wondered how all the first classes seemed to do that. It must be that mako thing…

"Yes?" Zack replied coolly, apparently used to the sudden appearing and disappearing. Oh, right. He was a first class, too. Diana kept forgetting. He was so young…he must be really good. _Really_ good.

"…You never cease to amaze me." Angeal ruffled Zack's black spikes, earning him an emphatic protest, before striding off with Sephiroth and Genesis Rhapsodos.

"They really are the Dynamic Trio." Diana raised her eyebrows.

"Tell me about it," Zack muttered moodily. "That doesn't give them the right to abuse me…"

Cloud laughed the loudest, trying to escape Max and Shane, who were nearly suffocating him with their continued interrogation.

-----------------

"So what—_did_—you two end up—doing last night?" Diana panted as she threw continuous rhythmic punches and kicks at Cloud, who was supposed to be blocking her.

"I'm telling you—we just—walked around and—talked a bunch!" he insisted.

"Fair enough—but how do you know—each other again? Watch it!" she stopped a low punch just short of his abdomen when she saw that he didn't see it coming.

"Thanks. We grew up—together in—Nibelheim. Haven't seen her—since I was fifteen, though."

"How come?" She motioned for him to go on the offensive. He paused slightly before attacking.

"I left my town—to join SOLDIER—but I was too young and—eventually went back, feeling like my—life was never going anywhere—and by then she was—gone to study for this stuff." He managed to gesture around before attempting a high kick that Tifa had shown them earlier, but he wasn't quite as flexible as her and Diana had to duck farther than should have been necessary. A buzzer went off for a five-minute break and the would-be SOLDIERs all sighed in relief. Diana would have been disgusted by all the sweaty men but was able to suppress the reaction due to the fact that she was pretty gross herself by now.

Five minutes later they were back at it, having a completely freestyle sparring match. Once thing that Diana was grateful for was the fact that they could pair up with whoever they wanted. She could avoid her large new enemy more effectively. He was still giving her the evil eye whenever he could, which was starting to creep her out a little. Let it go, already! She supposed he was just waiting for his chance. She gritted her teeth while blocking Shane with a little more force than was needed. Well, for now she was going to get as strong as she could so she would be ready for anything.

A thought crossed the back of her mind, in a part that was detached from the fight. A little technique experiment of her own to try out. She quickly dropped low and swept her leg around to make it look like she was trying to trip Shane. He jumped and got a little confused. What was Devon doing? That was too obvious of a way to— A string of incoherent profanities crossed his mind in the next couple of seconds.

It was a simple fakeout. Diana had snapped back up to normal height faster than she appeared to be capable of doing—or anyone was normally capable of doing—and her leg continued in a fast blur of an arc, heading for Shane's head. The look of realization and shock that he got on his face would have been funny except that this was semi-serious training. She purposely connected with less force than she could have, slowing down her momentum. However, he still flew several feet and crashed into the wall before slumping halfway to the floor.

Diana walked over quickly to help him. "You good?" She knew guys didn't particularly care most of the time, but she wasn't going to just stand there. He nodded with a dumbstruck look.

"Yo, Loveless, Azarius! Get a move on," Zack called to them, approaching with his usual grin. It looked like he was making the rounds.

"Sorry, we were, but—" Diana began apologetically.

"That was freaking _amazing!_" An uncharacteristically excited Shane jumped up before wincing and putting a hand to his jaw. "Ow." Diana and Zack gave him equally blank looks. "Did you not just see that?" he demanded.

"See what?" Diana asked with a hint of worry. Maybe he had hit his head just a little too hard.

"That—thing—what you just did! That was so cool."

"Huh? Dude, I was just sparring back and you didn't see. Tough luck, that's it."

"Show me," Zack said abruptly.

What? "…Alright?" She looked at Shane. "Are you up for…?"

"No, _me_," Zack said. Diana stared at him and then cursed her bad luck while muttering her compliance. She tried to clear her mind of any uncooperative thoughts and went into her focused training/fighting mode.

They moved away from the wall and shifted into ready positions. Zack was waiting for her to attack first and she met his wishes full force. A little bit into the match she saw a good opening for her new trick and she dropped low with her kick yet again. As Shane watched curiously, Zack looked as fleetingly confused as he must have. Diana then sprang up and let him have the full-on blow. He was a first class, after all. He certainly didn't need to be let off. She had half expected him to see it coming, she thought as Zack smashed into the wall just as her other friend had. His face was a mask of pure shock. However, he took it a little bit more gracefully than Shane had.

He rolled his neck experimentally as Devon took a step toward him. Who knew the kid had that kind of force in him? Maybe he wasn't up against quite as much as Zack had first thought.

"That's good," he complimented with a growing grin, choosing to ignore the throbbing that was taking over his jaw, as it must have Shane's as well. Jeez. Getting thrown against the wall by a newbie…now that was interesting. There was definitely more to the Loveless twins than met the eye.

"Really?" Diana fairly gasped.

"Yeah. Perfect that and you got yourself your own thing there." He nodded to them, looking substantially pleased. "Good work."

As Zack walked off to critique other pairs, Shane started gaping at Diana. "You. Smashed. Zack Fair. Into. A. Wall."

-------------

"How was your guys' freestyle?" Max stretched at lunch that day in the cafeteria. "Cloud and I just about got killed by Gigantor next to us."

Diana looked up from her food in alarm. "What?"

"He, like, fell over backwards and nearly turned us into pancakes."

Oh. That was all. Good. She would hate to think that her unwanted nemesis was resorting to cheap tricks like going after her friends.

"Nothing terribly interesting. Well—I invented a move of my own and—uh, Shane, how you doin' there?" she looked at the brunette.

His eyes suddenly widened a ridiculous amount and for a second Diana debated whether or not he was actually choking. He waved his arms wildly then swallowed hard.

"I'mgoodbuthethrewthe_commanderintoawall_!"

Cloud blinked. "What language was that supposed to be?"

"I said he threw the commander into a wall!!" Shane re-exploded.

Cloud and Max gave her the queerest looks she'd seen all day, and that was saying something, considering what she'd gotten earlier on this very event. What? Was Shane going insane? How does that work? Literally? When? Why? How?

She blew a piece of stray hair out of her face. "Okay, first it was Shane, and he flipped out so Zack said to show him and it worked on him too, so what?"

"So what? So my jaw still hurts from that." _Dammit, you! _Diana thought fiercely at the now-present Zack. "I have to say, that was fairly awesome," he continued calmly, like she wasn't a newbie and he a first class who had gotten beaten up, so to speak, by her.

"Th-thanks, but I…I dunno."

"Is it really that hard to accept that you're good at something?" Cloud said around a mouthful of sandwich.

"Not like it happens often," she muttered darkly.

"Well, it has now! You're finding your strengths," Zack remarked brightly.

"Hmph."

**A/N: So how did you like how she handled that little snag, not wanting to go to a party as a guy? Also, I have to say, I enjoyed writing the part where she throws him into the wall during practice waaay too much haha! Please keep reviewing, even if you wanna flame me or whatever, I still love my reviews! :) Thanks for reading.**


	5. Missions Are Such A Pain

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Not owning…yet. Muahaha lol jk.**

**A/N: Not much to say this time…but… Oh yeah! Ten reviews! Makes me happy. Not like it's 100 or anything but still. So it all gets a little dramatic, kinda funny. Oh and some funny stuff near-ish the end! It involves a helicopter. I'll say no more. And btw in the very beginning, Diana's dreaming. So. Enjoy! :)**

**Chapter 5: Missions Are Such a Pain**

Diana and her brother, the real Devon, were standing at the edge of a cliff.

"Look at that. Doesn't that just spell freedom?" Devon sighed.

Diana was unable to respond. Her voice didn't work right, but it didn't seem to matter so she enjoyed the few stolen minutes with her lost brother.

Suddenly there was a noise in the forest a little ways behind them. They both whirled and Devon yelled something that sounded all muddled and distorted to Diana while throwing himself in front of her.

Gunshots.

And Devon was off, falling, falling, and all Diana wanted was to toss him a rope, to pull him to safety.

But instead, she flung herself off into space after him. She couldn't reach him…not enough time…

She was powerless to do anything, even if she could get to him, and the ground was getting closer and closer faster and faster—

Thud! Diana barely suppressed a scream. She had fallen off her bed and Cloud was stirring slightly across the room. She looked shakily around at the clock. Two A.M. She would never be able to sleep, she thought as she unsteadily relocated back to her bed. But that was a…tiring…dream…

Five hours later, she awoke for real. The nightmare came back to her immediately, and she sat up too fast, getting a head rush. Groaning quietly, she buried her head in her hands, trying to rid herself of the terrible images flashing through her mind. She only wished that they were going too fast for her to register. But they weren't.

They weren't of her dream. Oh no. That was only a subconscious representation of what had really happened. Her brother's voice kept punctuating her unwanted thoughts…

"Run!"

No!

"You have to run!"

I'm not—

"You have to leave me behind!"

"Devon? Devon."

She jumped and stiffened painfully when her friend's voice got through to her. That's not my name! She wanted to say. I'm a failure, I'm a liar, I'm a horrible person! But she couldn't. She raised her head carefully to look into Cloud's worried blue eyes.

"I'm fine." Her voice was raspy. "Nightmare," she dismissed it.

"…'Kay." He moved back across the room to change, and she remembered herself and pointedly stared at the ceiling. Well. That had sure messed up her night's sleep.

Over breakfast, Zack informed the four roommates that today they were moving on from Tifa's class. Cloud looked dismayed until he heard what they'd be doing instead and realized that he could still see his girlfriend.

Weapons in combat.

"This guy with a sword?" Max jerked a thumb at Shane. "Saints preserve us."

"Hey, what about him?" Shane said indignantly, looking significantly at a still-weirded-out Diana. "He'll chop us all to bits without even trying!" He turned to her, grinning, only to find a blank stare into a middle distance. "Hey. You look seriously wigged out, man."

"…Hm? Oh. No, I just had a weird dream. You know. Just one of those things," she said offhandedly. Shane apparently wasn't convinced, and Cloud apparently wasn't above continuing the mockery from the other day.

"I'm telling you, there's gotta be some secret girl somewhere that you're not telling us abo—"

"Watch it, Spiky. I hear that death by blunt practice sword is rather long and painful." She gained enough of herself back to threaten him jokingly.

"Ouch," Zack chuckled. "But you know, when you get touchy, that just leads us to believe that you've got something to hide…"

"What about you, Sir I'm-staring-into-space-most-of-the-time-and-won't-answer-questions?" she cut him off. It was true—he had been a little more spacey since…well, a few days. Diana had concluded that he had met someone at the party, her own moments shared with him pushed to the deepest places in her memory to be stubbornly misinterpreted by her own consciousness.

"Er. What are you talking about?" He didn't exactly want to tell Devon that he kept finding himself dreaming about Devon's own sister!

"You know what I'm—"

"Oh would you look at that, I think I hear Angeal calling me." He edged away warily. "See you later!"

Diana discovered several things in weapons class.

One: Swords were heavy. Particularly those huge ones that the first classes would carry, although none of the newbies could go anywhere near them.

Two: Before a trainee is allowed a sword, they must pass a bunch of tests. Oh, look, more tests. What fun.

Three: Also before, a few days have to be spent training with a long wooden staff. The instructor said he wanted to keep them all in one piece for as long as possible. He failed to mention the subsequent bruising that came of using wooden poles.

Four: Said bruising had never bothered Diana particularly, but she was sure her entire body would be covered within twenty-four hours. And that wasn't an exaggeration.

Five: Weapon trainers were vicious. She thought that Armadi No-first-name, the trainer, might possibly be descended from slave drivers.

That day and the next were a blur of endless drills, hits, being hit, and verbal abuse. Yet again, she was an easy target because of her size and comparative lack of strength. However, on the second day she got more than a bit of a surprise that would delay her training a bit.

"Pick two and you leave in the morning."

"Wha-at?" Zack gaped at his mentor.

"Sephiroth will be accompanying you—"

"Well, hell, then what do you need me and two rookies for?"

"Experience." Angeal said sagely.

Zack groaned. "Fine. But how do I pick? There are, like, fifty of them."

"Think, Zack. This is the army. Who will you work well with? Who will benefit from the experience while managing to keep themselves and their comrades alive?"

Several choices came to mind. "Okay, point taken. I'll let you know later tonight."

His teacher nodded as Zack stalked out of the office. He hated surprise missions. The only easy part now was choosing which newbies to bring along. He knew just the two…

"Wha-at?" Diana gaped at her commanding officer.

"I want you and Strife to come," he repeated, arms crossed. Was it really that hard for the kid to believe? He had more talent than he gave himself credit for.

"B-but—"

"Yeah, the whole "sudden" part isn't my favorite, either," he grimaced. "But, whatcha gonna do. Pack light; I'll go find Spiky to let him know. We leave in the morning."

"No, I meant—why us?"

Zack hesitated and then sighed. "Come on, kid, think. You'll figure it out." He smacked Diana on the shoulder and jogged off, satisfied.

Diana wasn't so easily appeased. "'You'll figure it out,' my ass," she grumbled, stalking off to take a few laps around wherever before heading back to the dorms.

"Did the commander tell you?!"

She narrowly avoided being bowled over by an overexcited blonde whirlwind as soon as she set foot inside their room. "Uh, yeah…I assume you've got the details—"

"We're going on a mission! Can you believe it?!"

"…Sure. Hey, Cloud? Cloud. Cloud!" He finally stopped jumping around. "Where are we going again? Zack failed to specify."

He shrugged. "Dunno. Wonder why he didn't say. I mean, Wutai's a pretty big place to be guessing around in."

"Probably didn't want us blabbing. That's how info gets leaked, y'know."

"Oh…oh, yeah… Dude, you're so smart. Why didn't I think of that?" Cloud made a face.

"Trust me, you don't wanna get inside my head. I overanalyze way too much for my own good. It's more of a curse." She let out a harsh snort of laughter.

"What's dying in here?" Max walked in from his room.

"Cloud is. He's having an anxiety attack," Diana stated matter-of-factly before glancing at Cloud and seeing the dramatic change in his expression that had taken place. "Cloud? You okay? I was kidding, you know?"

"We're going on a mission," he whispered, looking…was he scared?

"Yeah," Diana said carefully while Max gave them both a Say what? look.

"It's dangerous. SOLDIERs die on missions. We've barely been here a week, and gotten minimal training compared to what's ahead, and don't know anything, and why would we—" His voice was increasing in intensity and speed as he went on.

"Cloud." Diana said his name again, surprising the other two with her sudden gentleness. "Everything's dangerous. The whole world is dangerous. We're training to protect it, that's our purpose, right? Zack wouldn't bring us along if it was too much for us to deal with. He obviously thinks we can handle ourselves and I'm sure he wouldn't let anything happen to either of us." The two young men blinked at her sudden reassuring speech.

"You're right," Cloud said finally. "I know you're right." Diana could tell that the bond of trust between them had just been added to. One more strand of wire had wound itself around the cord that tied their friendship.

After a pause, Max zoned in on something Diana had said. "You call the commander 'Zack'?"

"Way to focus on the priorities," Cloud said dryly, back to more of his normal self.

"He told me to," Diana muttered, trying not to sound snooty. "Said anything else made him feel weird."

Max laughed it off. "Well, you've certainly had enough run-ins with each other."

More than you'd like to know, Diana thought grimly, attempting to block out the memory of the night of the party as she half-listened to Cloud explaining about their mission to Max. I wonder if he's trying to find me—no, that's silly. Just because he said he wanted to see me again—well, no, he never actually said that outright—so, good, he's forgotten all about me! Thank goodness. Yet, somehow, that wasn't the least bit relieving. Quite the opposite, in fact, although she'd never admit it.

"Come on, we'll miss the helicopter!" Diana flew around the dorm, flinging last-minute items into her small duffel bag.

"A'right! Comin'…" he yelled, stumbling out of the bathroom and throwing on his uniform jacket.

"Helicopter?" he asked weakly a few minutes later, approaching a landing pad where Zack and another first class with silver hair were waiting for them.

"I told you!" Diana chided him, hyper from excitement and a long and dreamless sleep. "And Wutai's, like, I dunno, far away."

"You guys good?" Zack called to them over the chopping of the rotors. "Let's go!"

As they walked to the helicopter, Diana got an impression of the other first class there. Sephiroth. The hero's hero. He was pretty intimidating, she had to admit. And he definitely didn't have that great sense of humor that Zack did.

Zack felt a little tingle in the pit of his stomach when he thought for possibly the millionth time that he wished Devon's sister were here too. Personal desires aside, he would love to see the two next to each other, just to compare them. If only he had known the truth.

Meanwhile, Cloud was sizing up his friend yet again. He envied Devon in that he was so utterly chill and in control. Well, Devon knew he didn't have anything to be afraid of. Cloud felt just a little more defenseless in comparison. Heck, even his girlfriend could walk the streets alone knowing that she could more than handle herself! He supposed he was all right, but there was always room for something more. He felt insecure in a self-conscious kind of way. Maybe this mission would speak to that a little. Make that a lot.

Sephiroth appraised the newbies from under hooded eyelids. Strife, and Loveless. (He still couldn't help but think of his friend Genesis at that.) Well, Strife just looked terrified at the moment but was trying to cover it up. No one could hide emotions in front of Sephiroth, anyway. Loveless was just plain undersized. Well, at least he looked borderline ADHD enough for his instincts to keep him around for a while, so that was good. He would reserve judgment on the two that Fair had asked him to size up.

About an hour into the helicopter ride, Cloud and Zack were engaged in conversation and Diana was left to ponder some things. True to his odd name, Cloud appeared to have no fear of heights whatsoever, thank goodness. And as for Diana, well, she could easily stand at the edge of a cliff and look calmly across to the other side or down the cliff face. No problem. Considering these things, she wondered what kinds of things they would be doing on this mission. She knew more than to expect breaking in somewhere, kicking some butt, and escaping in the nick of time. How about not. Whatever happened, she did know that there would be at least one instance where she would have to do something that she would not like to do at all.

There was only one thing that she could think of while going into a situation blind.

Killing.

How was she supposed to pep talk herself into being able to kill someone, probably another grunt from Wutai? How could she not think, this could be the same as one of my friends? How could she make up for ending a life? A life with dreams, with a past, with loved ones? How could she take that from a human being? Her only consolation was that she was fighting for the good of her people, and that another soldier would just do the same—or worse—to her. However, she wasn't going to simply be used as a weapon.

'They' said that she must learn to kill before she could ever feel safe in the world. The world was violent and she had to adapt. But she thought she would almost rather kill herself than turn into anybody's mindless slave that way.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sharp veering of the helicopter.

"Agghh! Reno, if that's you up there, you better have a damn good excuse—!" Zack yelled toward the cockpit, separated from the four passengers by what looked like a thin wall. The wall retracted into the floor and a roguish-looking man with a dirty blonde crew cut and elbow-high gloves grinned back at them.

"My bad! %$*# controls on this piece of &!% ain't exactly like the ones on my regular."

Diana blinked, effectively snapped out of her reverie. "And what's the regular?" She was actually interested.

He promptly launched into a lengthy technical description of what Diana assumed to be a large and latest-tech airship, which he was more than proud of. She tried to follow, but…

"Yo Cid! Eyes on the road!" Zack yelped as they swerved to the right violently, throwing him across the seat and sandwiching Diana between him and the wall. She made some rather colorful expressions in her head at this. Of course, it wasn't even remotely awkward for him! She was just another person. So no biggie. She was overreacting so much lately.

"Ain't no $%*#ing roads in the sky, %$*&!" Cid called back cheerfully, righting their course again.

"Forget swearing like a soldier—swearing like a pilot seems more accurate," Diana muttered darkly, earning her a laugh from Zack, the only one who heard her. She felt gratified, like hearing him laugh was actually doing good things for her mental state. Well, the best medicine was laughter, right? She chose to ignore the fact that his seemed to have just that much more of an effect on her than someone else's would have.

Landing several hours later worked pretty much the same way, with much cussing from the cockpit and much bumping and crashing from everything and everyone subjected to the ordeal.

"In the name of all that's holy, Cid, why the hell are you piloting?!" Zack yelled over the general ruckus.

"Not my—#$&—fault! This wasn't—&*%#—in the %&#ing job descrip—" Claaaang!

"What was that?" Cloud asked nervously.

"Probably something important," Diana commented calmly.

Cloud shot her a look. Jeez, I wish I could pick up on that state of mind. Like, the aloof and not-caring part, not the pessimistic thing…

"No worries, no worries! I'll just—oh, %&#$ it all to &($—get the #$*(&…aha!" The helicopter slammed to the ground, throwing things and people everywhere and most likely leaving a substantial dent in the whatever-they-had-the-bad-luck-of-landing-on. Speaking of landing on. Who knew three people could make such a tangled mess in such a small space? Sephiroth The Calm, Cool And Collected (and his hair) was of course detached from the pile but Zack, Cloud, and Diana were doomed that way.

"Ouch! Bad move, Cloud."

"Sorry!"

Could this get ANY worse? Any worse at all? Diana thought desperately. In a heap on the ground with two other guys in a small confined space was not on her list of top ten places she wanted to be right now. Okay, so maybe under alternate circumstances it was a completely different story, but still. She gasped inaudibly in pain as someone accidentally elbowed her in the chest. I give up I give up I give up! Crap I jinxed myself didn't I it's definitely worse now! she shrieked in her head.

"Get off already!"

"I can't!"

"Whose arm is this?"

"Ow, shit, that's me!"

Diana clocked heads with Zack and they both yelped. Cloud nearly managed to grab something and stand but was taken down again by one of Diana's unintentional but no less fierce kicks.

"Open the damn door, Cid, or I swear I'll open it with your face once we're out of here!" Zack bellowed finally. The door opened, of course, according to plan. The three tumbled out onto the ground and Sephiroth followed, looking unconcernedly amused.

Zack immediately jackknifed to his feet and scanned the surrounding area. Diana and Cloud did the same after a slight delay. They were in a field of long grasses with relatively thick tree cover on all sides.

Cid informed them that he'd be circulating around the borders doing some routine pickups and drop offs, and he'd be coming back for them when they needed him. With some more rather inventive language, he took off again and the sound of the rotors gradually faded.

"Can't see worth crap in there…" Cloud noted, squinting at the forest.

"Which is why here isn't where we're staying," Zack nodded. "Let's go. If there's anyone around with something remotely resembling ears they will have heard the noise." The four grabbed their packs and set off in the direction that Sephiroth indicated.

In about an hour, in the late afternoon, they reached a hidden Shinra outpost. It was a great example of being hidden in plain sight, using caves for hideouts and taking advantage of the slight rise in elevation of the area. The four took a cave with a great view of the countryside, for the time being. There were an awful lot of mountains out there. They were even higher than the ones Diana was used to seeing in Kalm. Home. She cut the thought short and refused to think of her home, her family, her friends… What were they doing? How had they reacted? When and how would she see them…?

Her thoughts began to wander aimlessly and she sat at the cave entrance for a bit while the sun slowly succumbed to the hazy twilight. She hardly even registered what she was looking at until she recognized a familiar figure moving out in the forest. Not the person him or herself, but rather the type of person. A Wutai soldier. They aren't supposed to know we're here! Have they found out about the outpost? Just our luck. The soldier didn't seem to notice her, and she was having a hard time sitting there doing nothing while he—she could tell it was a male, and besides all soldiers were—moved about almost imperceptibly. But why hadn't Zack seen him? She casually glanced to her left to see Zack standing a couple dozen yards away, whistling quietly and looking as detached from life as she must have a moment ago. She started to wonder what he was thinking about when another movement snapped her attention back to reality.

The soldier was raising what was unmistakably a gun, and it was pointed straight at Zack.

**A/N: And cue the cliffhanger!! Sorry, couldn't help myself. Yeah, so it's a little tiny bit shorter this time…keep reviewing please and thank you :) Hope you're enjoying the ride.**


	6. Second Chance

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Zack…but I'm working on it :P**

**A/N: If I say anything pertaining to the events of this chapter, my big mouth will give me away (yeah, UltimateFreedom, I see that look you're giving me…) So instead I'm going to tell you that I have blue paint in my hair right now (again, *coughcoughUltimateFreedom*)! See, long story short, we had this paint fight… And now we're attempting to write our stories and edit and brainstorm and all that good stuff:) So enjoy, my friends! (I'm such a freak…:P)**

**Chapter 6: Second Chance**

The soldier was raising a gun, and it was pointed straight at Zack.

She was helpless! What could she do? Yell at Zack to get down, and give them all away? No, but—

Zack's own handgun was lying on the ground, not two yards from Diana. She saw it was loaded and she took a chance by slumping all the way to the ground and closer to the gun, stretching her hands out casually. She saw in her peripheral vision, her heart pounding furiously, the soldier pause and look at her, then apparently decide that she was no threat, because he went back to perfecting his aim at Zack. Diana knew she had only milliseconds, and she leaped for the gun as soon as the soldier's attention was off her and began shooting rapid-fire at the soldier while falling to the ground again. She couldn't tell exactly when, but the soldier fell too. Seemingly detached from her own body and consciousness, she jumped off the ledge, still gripping the gun, ignoring the shouts of her allies coming from all around her. She raced with light feet toward the underbrush, fearing he might have gotten away, but no. There he was, lying where he'd fallen. She didn't think he was breathing. She suddenly got lightheaded and her legs felt unimaginably weak. There was blood on his dark clothing, on the ground beneath him…everywhere, it seemed like, even though there really wasn't all that much. She must not have hit him in the head. Her stomach twisted into a million knots and she staggered heavily as Zack ran up, calling to her as well.

"Devon! What are—" He stopped when he saw the dead Wutain soldier. "…You saw him?" he asked in clipped tones. How could he have missed that? But more importantly, why had Devon reacted the way he had?

"You realize that you just sent a signal out telling everyone within hearing range that someone is here with heavy artillery, and that at any—" An angry officer that Diana didn't know stepped through the small group of people that had followed her and Zack. A few of the people still looking thoroughly pissed off, obviously still on the same wavelength as the officer. Their expressions changed when they saw the body. A Wutai soldier, here? How? A traitor? Why?

Diana cut him off, probably violating some code of respect. "Excuse me, sir, but there was an enemy there," she barely avoided really snapping at him. She experienced a moment of satisfaction when a look of surprise crossed his face as he saw the soldier before he turned back to her, apparently angered even more.

"So you felt the need to shoot him on sight?" the officer fumed, furious with her. "Could you have exercised a little more restraint, or gone for help, or maybe been a little more stealthy? Our position is probably compromised, and—!"

"Sorry sir, but I didn't think that—"

"Damn right you didn't think!" he roared.

She lost the little bit of a hold she still had on her temper and treated him to a full-on death glare with her now eerily electric green eyes as she interrupted again and raised her voice slightly to make the officer stop. "I didn't think—" she had his attention back, "that it was in anyone's best interest to let him kill Z—my commander, sir," she half-sneered, ignoring her little trip over Zack's name.

He kept glaring, but looked more confused than anything. "What?"

"He was pointing a gun at Commander Fair, sir. I didn't simply do it for no reason. Even I know that would have been foolish." She was still fuming more than a little.

"…Is this true?" the hothead now snapped at Zack, who turned to him coolly. The small crowd shifted in surprise. This was the famous Zack Fair? Here? No way. Was he on a mission? What was he doing? Who was with him besides the small youth?

"I don't know. If I had known, I don't think that he would have had the need to save me."

After a pause, the officer reluctantly held out a hand to Diana, then to Zack. "I believe thanks are in order, then. 'Scuse me. Just tryin' to keep us all alive, y'know," he said gruffly, nodding to Diana. She inclined her head to him in response. In a way, she didn't blame him. There hadn't exactly been much context there. The people dissipated slowly and Zack turned to Diana.

"He was about to shoot me?" he asked in disbelief. "Why didn't I…I didn't even see him…" he muttered in confusion.

"That's what it looked like. Hey, it's twilight, though, right? Hardest time of day or night to see at. 'S not your problem." Diana shrugged, taking deep breaths and trying not to look at the dead soldier.

He gave her an odd look. "…Thanks, Devon. Thanks a lot. I owe you now," he mused.

She snorted. "You do no such thing." She was only helping a friend! Well…okay, so maybe she had saved his life, but she was sure that he would do the same for her or anyone else in a heartbeat.

A couple hours later, Diana escaped the encampment and quickly ran behind a bush and puked her guts out. The soldier…she couldn't get him out of her head! It was horrible…she had killed someone…never mind that he was from Wutai, whose soldiers had caused her so much pain in the past…he was a person…with a life…

She didn't even notice anyone nearby when a pair of hands took her by the shoulders from behind. "Easy there…"

She gasped in her shock. "Wha… Z-Zack… Go… You don't have to…" she groaned.

"I'm not leaving a friend who's saved my life," he said stubbornly. She didn't have it in her to argue, and took a last shuddering breath before sitting down heavily. "Better?" he asked.

"No…" she mumbled. This was awful.

"I did the same thing after my first," Zack said quietly after half a second of silence.

Diana was shocked into looking at his face, which in turn nearly shocked her into incomprehensibility. "Get out."

"Really. I was such a mess. Except that no one was there for me at the time."

"What would I do without you?" she tried a weak grin.

"No, what would I do without you?" he asked.

She froze, though almost imperceptibly. "Really, that was no big deal…" she made an attempt at an objection.

"No big deal? Dev, I was about this close," he held up his forefinger close to his thumb, "to getting a bullet in the head. You call that no big deal?"

"Well…okay. Fair enough, I guess?"

"Thank you. Now let's get you to bed." He pulled her off the ground and draped her arm around his shoulders. She was so exhausted that she hardly cared.

"I just don't get it," Zack said quietly to Sephiroth later that night. Cloud and Devon were asleep, he knew. "I've replayed it in my head, but…"

"You were obviously just distracted," Sephiroth stated plainly.

"But I'm never that unobservant!" he protested.

"What were you thinking about? Exactly?" the silver-haired man turned his all-knowing green gaze on Zack, making him fidget uncomfortably.

Zack's face reddened ever so slightly. "Nothing," he muttered. Oh, right. Nothing. Real intelligent. And Sephiroth knew he'd gotten it exactly right, and that Zack knew that he knew and was still in complete and total denial.

"What's the girl's name?" Sephiroth drawled, stretching his arms.

"What?" Zack nearly yelled before remembering to whisper.

"Come on. I'm not that thick." Sephiroth was clearly enjoying himself.

"Well…uh…oh, fine. Fine! Be that way. It's such an awkward situation," he muttered.

"How so?"

"Uh, well, see, she's sorta…kindaDevon'ssister," he ran the words together in a rush.

"He has a sister?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"Twin," Zack said shortly. "Met her at the party, she told me not to tell Devon she was there…they aren't getting along just now, evidently… My Goddess, she's fantastic…" His eyes slowly unfocused before Sephiroth smacked him on the shoulder, bringing him back.

"I see now," Sephiroth murmured. "That makes much more sense."

"Trust me, there's no sense to it at all," Zack snorted. "I just can't stop thinking about her. I've got to get my head on straight…" It was, in a way, a credit to Diana that she could occupy his thoughts to the extent that Zack completely forgot himself and his surroundings. Ironic that the very girl's brother had been the one to save his miserable ass. If he hadn't been there…if he hadn't noticed the shooter… It fully hit Zack that Devon had saved his life, in quite a direct way. He got a sense of foreboding in that it might well happen again, maybe even with the roles reversed. He also felt like the kid could be a real friend to him. Zack did get a little lonely now and again. It was tough being a first class but younger by at least five years than any of the others. He was the right age for a second class, but since he had so many other responsibilities he hardly had time for his old friends in second, like Kunsel. Considering this, it occurred to him that Devon was only a newbie. Sometimes he hardly seemed like it; it was easy to forget that the kid was only nineteen despite his telltale size. He would definitely make it into third class. It wouldn't be long before he got to second, either. The same went for Cloud. It was a bold thing to say, and awfully soon, but Zack would almost say that he wouldn't be surprised it those two made it to first in a few more years. Who knew? Maybe he wouldn't be the only freak miracle kid anymore. He smiled a little at the thought, then realized that Sephiroth was speaking again.

"Hm?"

"I said, what's your take on those two? Why did you pick them? I just want to hear your incentives."

"You tell me your impressions first."

"Fine. Start with Strife. A little confused sometimes and too energetic for his own good, but once he gets something into his head, he'll do it and by any means necessary. Remind you of anyone?"

Zack had never thought of it so well put. "Me? Oh, come on—well—okay."

"And Loveless—"

"Why look, is that you, Genesis?"

"Let's pray not. In that case I might actually pity the kid. Anyhow."

"Proceed."

"Loveless is…unique. Full of surprises, more so than you would give him credit for, and stubborn as hell to boot."

"'Unique.' No kidding."

There were a few seconds of silence.

"It runs in the family, I assume," Sephiroth said casually.

"Wha? How—? You know what, I don't even want to know."

Sephiroth smirked slightly. After another pause, he said, "The boy has a secret."

"I guessed as much. For all his openness, he somehow keeps everything to himself and so…hidden."

Sephiroth nodded. "He will come out with it when it's time."

"Hm." Zack blinked, thinking.

**-------- In the morning ---------**

"I think he's dead."

"Lemme see. Move over." He scooted up and bent close. "Hey, there are girls here!" he said in a secretive but animated tone.

She shot bolt upright, lashing out in all directions and snapping to her feet in a crouch. Zack and Cloud started roaring with laughter at the look of a combination of terror, shock, and utter confusion on her face. Ah, crap. As if opening your eyes in the morning to see Zack Fair's (gorgeous) face grinning mischievously (not to mention handsomely) inches from your own wasn't terrifying (breathtaking) enough. Of course they had no idea of the real reason that they had scared the shit out of her. She had yet to have a nightmare about being found out, but her waking fears sufficed. Pathetic that that was the first thing they thought of to wake her up. Jeez. Men.

She suddenly realized that her hair had come down some time in the night. Crap. She stuck her tongue out at her friends and began hunting for her elastic and her leather tie.

"Well, whaddaya know? It lives," Cloud chortled. Diana gave him a fierce mock glare and he grinned angelically in response. "Dude, why don't you just cut your hair if it's so much of a pain?" Diana had located her elastic and was whipping her wavy hair around into a ponytail.

"Because. I've always had it this way, and besides," she picked up the thin strip of leather and wound it tightly around her hair. "If I cut it, it just gets in my eyes, and I look like hell with anything shorter."

"You win."

"Always do."

"Do not!"

As the two bantered, laughing, Zack was shocked again by the twins' resemblance. He just couldn't get over it, especially with Devon's hair loose like his sister's. He made up his mind that once they were back in Midgar, he was going to track Diana down however he could. He had to.

**-------- That night ---------**

Mission Log: Wutai

#1 part 1 of __[unknown as of yet]__

So today, I, Devon Loveless, went with Cloud Strife, Sephiroth, and Zack—I mean Commander Fair to go blow some stuff up. No, really. We planted some charges around a Wutain mako reactor, and boy, when those things explode, they explode. We were actually looking for information first; that was the primary concern. There was a lot of breaking and entering and assault involved… (By the way, I'm still trying to rid my head of the image of that shooter from last night.) We couldn't track down the exact files, but apparently good old Sephy got some sort of a lead on them. I just want this war to end. But I'm trying to put my personal issues with Wutai behind me. Not much else to say, so look for the next update.

Diana sighed and closed her "mission log" that Zack had bullied her and Cloud into keeping. It was good for memories, and for remembering past mistakes, he had said. After he said that, Diana had relented. She wandered outside to find Zack sitting on the ledge, looking at the sky. She found herself wanting to freeze-frame that image of him, sitting perfectly still and alert, only his hair being lifted in the slight breeze and his eyes darting about as bright as ever. She sat next to him and leaned back on her hands. He nodded to acknowledge her in silence.

After a few minutes of simply breathing the air, Zack spoke. "Wonder if I'll need saving again."

"Hm? Oh. That. Really, chill about it." She made a face.

"If you say so…" he faded off. He looked away but then did a double take back to her. His enhanced vision had picked up on something wrong, even in the evening lack of light. "Hey, Dev… Sorry if I'm being weird, but, uh, weren't your eyes gray this morning?"

"Oh, no problem. But yeah, probably. I dunno." She shrugged. "My hair changes too, curly to straight and everything in between."

Zack's brow wrinkled. It wasn't like guys paid attention to these things particularly, but he had to admit, that was actually kind of strange. "How come?"

"Well…my sister and I…" She had only ever told one person this, her best friend from home, and Diana had only overheard about it by accident and later confronted her parents when she was about thirteen. But she found that she really, really wanted to trust Zack in that same way. How to phrase it… "It's no coincidence that we look so much alike," she said carefully. When Zack looked more confused, she continued. She should have known it wouldn't be that easy. "I—we—were made this way."

"…Oh." It clicked for Zack. "You're designer children?" He used the phrase used by the media.

"Kind of. We were more of an experiment than anything. Mother and Father wanted a boy and a girl, twins. And the experiment part…they and the scientists wanted to see if they could make our genes so that they literally changed periodically. They didn't know what effect specifically it would have, but, well, here we are. No problems but stinted growth." She grinned at Zack.

"Huh." He took it in. Interesting. So he wasn't going insane. That was reassuring. Kind of. "I actually think that's kinda cool," he said slowly. "I mean, you were a success, right?"

"I guess. Well, apparently we weren't quite dramatic enough in the variety department for some of the scientists, but hell, I say close enough, and be grateful we didn't come with any extra limbs or something!"

Zack laughed, and they made small talk for another hour or so, their bond becoming stronger by the minute.

**--------The next day---------**

As the pickup truck rattled down the dirt road, Diana was painfully reminded of her first day going to SOLDIER. Except that she had been sitting with Cloud, as opposed to being crammed in next to Zack amongst piles of bags of Goddess-knows-what. She decided that if she were ever in the back of a pickup truck hiding ever again, well…she wouldn't be. There had to be a better mode of transportation than this. She gritted her teeth. Rocky deserts were not on her list of favorite places in the world. She just wanted the shaking and bumping to stop.

She was about to get her wish, in a left-handed sort of way.

They hit a particularly large bump just as Diana was shifting her seat, and she and Zack were thrown around violently, resulting in them clocking their head together. "Oww!" they protested in unison.

"Sephy! Watch it up there!" Zack yelled behind him into the cab of the truck.

Sephiroth's glacier green eyes glared at him in the rearview mirror. "I swear, call me that again…"

"How come Cloud gets to sit up front?" Diana grumbled, rubbing her head.

"I'm giving him driving lessons," Sephiroth responded coolly.

"You can't drive?" She blinked at her friend.

"Only motorcycles," he mumbled. "Never learned in a car."

"Huh. I'm jealous. My parents wouldn't ever let me within twenty feet of a bike," she snorted.

"Really?" It was Cloud's turn to look disbelieving.

"Watch me, Strife. And, Loveless and Fair, keep a lookout…" Sephiroth warned them, just the ghost of a smile passing over his face.

"Right, right…" Zack sighed and settled back to the floor, as did Diana. They both began scanning the landscape again.

Not five seconds had passed before Zack suddenly dove at her, yelling, "Get down!" Gunfire shot into a bag where Diana's head had been previously. She heard swearing from Sephiroth and Cloud, and the truck veered off the road. The two somehow got a door open, and all four of the team made a jump for it and hit the ground running. Zack yanked a small device from one of his pockets and threw it an unnatural distance to where the shooters must have been, where it detonated.

"Thanks!" Diana gasped as they ran, scanning the air for the chopper that she could now hear.

"Think of it as payback!" he said, tossing her a live grenade. "Four o'clock!"

She yelped and automatically chucked it to the right and behind her, making a rather large explosion punctuated by a few yells from the enemies hiding there. She blocked out any qualms about killing that she had and was for the most part successful. It sounded cold and inhumane to her, but… She was able to do so largely due to adrenaline and the knowledge that the enemy certainly wasn't holding back. They would do the same and probably much worse to her. She realized that Cloud was falling behind, and she turned to see him behind her, fiddling with something in his hands. What was he doing?

The four pounded around the corner of a mountain of boulders, Sephiroth in the lead. Cloud suddenly skidded to a near-stop to hastily fix something to the ground before gradually catching back up. "Tripwire," he panted a few seconds later.

"To wha—" BOOM! Well, that was one less eight-wheeler to worry about being chased by.

The next fifteen minutes were, Diana was sure, pulled straight from hell.

It was an endless cycle of shooting, slashing, throwing, jumping, and endless running. Her lungs were starting to ache and her legs were getting heavier with each step. And, of course, she was beyond terrified in the little temporarily shut-down, logical part of her mind. She thought they had caught a break when Zack pointed to a concealed rift in a boulder. The four of them crammed inside—wait.

No. There were only two others. Zack! What?

She half-stepped back outside and saw Zack standing near the entrance, sword in hand. "What are you doing? Come on!" she said urgently.

"They'll find us eventually. I'm giving you a shot," he said evenly, his eyes alert and snapping. "As soon as it's clear… Don't wait for me."

Diana had a horrible flashback. "They'll catch us. I'm giving you a chance. Now run!" A scar that raked across her cheekbone tingled ever so slightly with her rise in blood pressure.

She was speechless. He suddenly tightened all over. "Get back!" he hissed. She was too dumbfounded to do anything but obey.

Then she watched in horror as he strode away from her. He was almost out of sight behind some rocks, but she could plainly see the huge force of soldiers with guns that he was up against. He lifted his sword and rested his head forward on the flat of the huge blade. His lips moved inaudibly and he looked up, smiling vaguely but dangerously. Then there was gunfire. But he did something and completely dodged the bullets, yelling and charging the enemy.

"Okay, Loveless, let's move it!" Sephiroth said quietly behind her. "We have to get out of here. And Strife's hit."

Diana looked down in alarm at a blankly staring, apparently delirious Cloud. "What happened?"

"Mako-powered bullets. They cause a lot more damage than regular ones do." He grunted and lifted Cloud. "Cover me."

She pulled out the handgun Zack had given her and cautiously followed Sephiroth and Cloud, operating purely on autopilot, completely dumbstruck. What did Zack think he was doing?

Zack raised his sword in front of him and leaned his head against it. "Always hold on to your dreams," he said quietly. He looked up slowly. There were so many. He heard the sound of another chopper. But they were only ordinary infantrymen. He was a SOLDIER.

But he was at a borderline inside his own head. Lately he had found that…he needed some peace of mind. He was conflicted. He had to do what he was meant to…but somehow doing that made him feel a little dead inside. He had to steel himself to not mind falling to pieces. Count me in, he thought with a grim half-smile. It was all so…violent, so sad in a way. Well, this was the army. Let's begin. But how could he simplify things? He told himself that all he had to do was dislocate the enemies he met along the way. But he needed…he needed someone to show him what it was like to see things in black and white. To be perfectly clear and simple. This is what you do, and how you do it, and why. Then maybe he could have some sense of completion when he had to leave this world and reenter the Lifestream. He didn't want to admit that he was full of fear. It was so clear to him, though. Well, either way… I'll be here, fighting forever. The opposition would find out how venomous he could be. Anyone else…he had accepted that they would find him, climbing to heaven. But never mind that. This was his fate, although… He almost wished he could turn back time. How could he make it all right? At least his comrades, his friends, would be fine. On the other hand… I will get left behind. He had had that feeling for years. It had been his childhood fear: not being able to keep up. This was a different kind of leaving, though. And, still, he was wishing for a plainer way to see things. He was holding on too tight to his emotions. He breathed carefully, knowing those breaths of life were measured. He would likely be the one leaving the world behind…but it would only hurt once. They were only broken bones, after all. He had to bury his deep, secret hate of death inside himself. Just so that he could leave the world behind. To do that, he wanted to see some black and white. To even dream in black and white. Simplicity…please? He was desperate. But he found the balance inside himself with the solace that he was saving some of the people he cared the most deeply for. He had to let his tight grip go… He breathed out the essence of his life again. So I can leave this world behind…

Zack Fair charged.

Several minutes later, they could still hear the sounds of battle as they snuck from hiding place to hiding place, skirting the edges of what was already beginning to look like a war zone. Zack sure was putting up one heck of a fight. He's not going down, now or anytime soon, Diana thought fiercely. He would take all the enemies down and meet up with the team later…

A few minutes later, with a final explosion and a few more noises, it was suddenly over. Diana paused to anxiously look through a crack between two boulders and a terrible scene met her eyes.

There were bodies…everywhere. She could even see some blood, and scorch marks from explosives. This was what a real war zone was. Nothing but death and pain and tragedy.

And there stood Zack Fair.

She sighed in relief—almost. Then she saw the unthinkable.

She could see that Zack was exhausted. His arms had dropped and his chest was heaving. He hadn't exactly gotten away with anything in the injuries department, either.

And what he couldn't see were the three gunmen who had suddenly appeared, out of his line of sight, and were heading right for him.

She wanted to yell at him to get away, but then they would all be dead. She wanted to get the soldiers before they got Zack, but no way could she do it at this range without giving away her position or being seen by at least one of them eventually. And there was no time to tell Sephiroth.

"No," she whispered. This wasn't happening, no it wasn't! No. It was, and she was powerless.

Make that almost powerless.

"No!" she said more violently, and took off immediately.

She could hear Sephiroth hissing after her but not following. Good. She sprinted, nearly silent, and hidden from both Zack and the Wutai soldiers by a long, solid ridge of rocks. She ran along it, towards a point between the two groups but closer to Zack. If she wanted to protect him…uh, she would figure that out…sometime. Okay. Just run.

She kept accelerating and her breathing started to speed up. Not fast enough, faster, faster, need more time, more time, have to get there, no time, faster, just a little, almost there, still faster!

Four things happened in the same instant.

The Wutain soldiers came into Zack's view.

Zack looked up, utterly defeated and looking heartbreakingly hopeless but calm at the same time.

The three infantrymen raised their guns. Three flashes of light; three sharp cracks; three bullets whizzing through the air.

And Diana exploded onto the scene, slamming on the brakes smack in front of Zack with outstretched arms and an unnervingly wild look on her face.

It was just about the most desperate move she could make.

One bullet passed through her left shoulder, carving out a trail of flesh as the second one hit her full in the right shin, making her gasp with pain beyond her imagining. Its shooter had probably been startled and his aim thrown off, a distant part of her noted.

The third was the miracle. It literally passed so close to Diana's ear that she felt its slipstream in the air current. It also went through the air right where Zack's head had just been. But he had faltered and collapsed halfway, unknowingly saving himself.

Diana's body jerked with the shocks of pain and she crumpled to the ground with Zack, her vision getting slightly fuzzy. She vaguely noticed a few cries from her left and a mysterious red blur streaking around where their attackers were. Something told her that she was safe now, though. She lay for a second on her front before gritting her teeth and forcing her good arm and leg to drag her to her friend's side.

"Z-Zack…" she coughed, fearful beyond all comprehension. She didn't know about what had happened to the miraculous third shot, of course.

Then he groaned, very quietly.

Her pain abruptly got forcibly shoved to the back of her consciousness. "Zack! Are you there? Come on, say something, here."

Suddenly, Sephiroth and a slumped-over Cloud were beside her as well. "Idiot," snapped the General, but Diana barely heard him.

Zack made another noise. Diana leaned over him to hear him. "What?" she asked quietly.

"I'm…here. Not for…long…" he managed.

"No…no, look, Zack, you're gonna be fine—" She was starting to panic, barely remembering to keep her voice low.

"T-tell Sephiroth…"

"Tell Sephiroth your freaking self! He's not going anywhere!"

Oh. So he was. He was that silvery shape over there… "Sephiroth…you know…what to tell everyone. What to…tell her." He gave his comrade a weakening but significant look. Sephiroth nodded solemnly in response.

Diana was hardly focusing on his words. She was taking his state in. Oh, Goddess, he was a mess. There was a deep gash somewhere on his head and blood was running all down the side of his face. His breathing was labored and more crimson blood was starting to pool from a wound in his side. And, of course, he was scraped and bruised all over. He suddenly blinked unfocused eyes and looked a little anxious.

"We're not going anywhere. You're fine." Sephiroth practically read his mind. Although the two men knew that the last part was a complete and utter lie. Zack was close. So close.

Zack felt something come over him, like a calm. What was it? It felt nice… It felt and looked like he was reaching and floating up to a shining brightness that was growing in the sky…

A/N: All I'm gonna say is that I'm expecting quite the reaction from this… 


	7. Chocobos Grasshoppers and Mad Scientists

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I hereby undo any claims I may or may not have forged to these wonderful characters and their wonderful world…**

**A/N: Please don't kill me for the last ending! Or not updating for a week after that whole mess!! *hides under rock* Read on, it'll all make sense…**

**Chapter 7**

It felt and looked like he was reaching and floating up to a brightness that was growing in the sky…

…But something blocked the way. It was a someone. An image of a small, very angry someone.

"Don't you dare die on me, Zachary Fair! Don't you dare!"

…What…? No…let me go…

"You get your sorry first-class ass back here and you do it right now! Do you hear me?!"

Zack heard the voice…but who was it? It didn't sound like any one person in particular… But why were they keeping him from moving on, from relief? He wanted it to stop, just stop…

"**It is not yet your time, child. Go back now…**" This time it was a voice inside his head. A new voice that was like crystal: sharp and clear and ringing, so that he felt like his ears hurt, and also powerful, commanding. Zack was even more confused…

"You're staying right here and you can't do a thing about it!"

Unbeknownst to anyone else, Zack heard the yelling voice ring out in clear double tones that time. It was both the friend who had saved his life…and a lively girl who had all of a sudden exploded into that life.

Zack's eyes snapped open wide again and he was shocked back into reality for a second or two. His vision was filled with a pair of pale purple eyes before he drowned in their depths and passed out again, his eyes rolling back in his head.

But he was very much alive.

"If you die, I swear I'll follow you to the next world and kill you!" Diana finally just stopped, and let the threatening tears come. It had started to rain. The water mixed with the blood everywhere and made little rivulets running along the ground where she was kneeling. She dropped forward, her head on Zack's chest, trying not to sob. She had failed to help someone she cared for, again. She had failed to find a better solution, again. And she had failed to save what mattered most, in the end. She was out of things to hope for…

Then his chest moved. Diana froze. It rose and fell unevenly again. "He…he's breathing!" she gasped.

"Come on. We'll call for backup," Sephiroth said placatingly, evidently employing some higher level of control to detach himself from the situation.

"No, look! He's breathing! General, he's still alive!" she yelped.

He looked at her with vague, sad concern, and then he caught the barest movement of Zack's choppy breathing and he looked as confused and surprised as anyone could ever get him to be.

Diana shuddered suddenly as the pain from her wounds rushed back to her all at once. "S-see?" Her breath whooshed out as she crumpled the rest of the way to the ground, unconscious.

Zack was dreaming. He dreamed that an angel came to save him and take him from a horrible place…it must have been hell. But the angel was a little strange. Zack had always imagined them as pale blondes in long white dresses. Even though it was odd enough that he couldn't seem to get a good look at her, he knew she wasn't at all like he would have thought. She was of nondescript coloring, light but not quite pale, with brown hair—at least, he thought. When he tried to really see her, his retinas were seared by the blinding light that surrounded her. And he could never quite catch up to her…

Suddenly his angel was joined by another. Zack could see the new one quite clearly, however. She seemed familiar, with her long brown braid and pink dress. For some reason, though, he couldn't speak, and could no longer move as the two began to converse…

Diana, on the other hand, dreamed no dreams that night, or the next. At least, none that she would remember, until later.

But two days later, her eyes began to flutter open. She felt so strange. Everything seemed light and floaty, and hard to grasp, as if it were all just barely there. Like the misty clouds that always lingered at the tops of the mountains in the morning, that looked like the remnants of the sweep of angels' wings. Clouds…

Cloud! Zack!

She fully awakened, inhaling like she'd just surfaced from deep water, her fingers digging sharply into whatever she was resting on.

"Oh— Whoa! Di-Devon, relax! You're fine, it's okay," a voice next to her exclaimed. Diana turned to the speaker with wildly panicked eyes, then calmed down a little. It was Tifa. That meant she wasn't dead, right? But—

"Zack—Cloud—" she managed hoarsely. Her voice wouldn't work right, and it was well enough, because she had momentarily forgotten to fake her tone. And—hey—she was in the infirmary, or something. So she was alive.

"Sh, shh! They're fine," Tifa soothed, gesturing over Diana, who whipped her head over to see Zack in a hospital bed not five feet away. Cloud lay beyond him. She sighed and relaxed, her expression softening at her two sleeping friends. They both shifted slightly in their sleep, Cloud mumbling, and Tifa chuckled fondly.

"…Wha' happ'n'd?" It was all the groggy Diana could get out.

"Yeah. About that. From what little about it I could get out of Sephiroth, I have a question for you. Are you freaking insane?!"

"Uh…oh. Um. Well." She tried to clear her thoughts, rolling her head from side to side. She saw a glass of water on the table by her and reached for it, draining it quickly. That woke her up some more, but she was still vaguely hazy. Ugh…Tifa was going on one of her spiels again. Oh boy.

"What exactly were you thinking?! You really need to fill me in on the details, here—!"

"He was gonna die!" She finally found her voice, forcing her eyes to their widest to take in the light and the rest of the world. "I wasn't about to go and let him do something stupid like that. Yes?" she inquired indignantly at the look Tifa gave her.

"You are the strangest…person I have ever met," Tifa decided.

Diana smirked at her choice of words, completely coherent and aware now, then winced suddenly. "Urgh. Ow. What the?"

"You were shot twice, remember?" Tifa said dryly. "They had to do some work on your upper arm, and get the bullet out of your leg…" She shuddered. She never had been able to deal with weapons of much any kind.

Diana's face drained of color immediately as she listened. Her shoulder—that was so close to her bandages and what they hid about her. A million thoughts shocked her one after another. Did they find out? They must have. Why didn't Tifa say something right away? But I'm alive. Wouldn't they have executed me or something? Why didn't they just let me die? Or do they just want the please of seeing me die whole and well? What sickos…

Tifa noticed the abrupt change and said quickly, "I warned the medics about your condition and why you have to keep your ribs taped up, all the time." She gave her friend an overly obvious and significant look. The poor girl looked like she was going to pass out again. Stupid! Tifa chided herself. You should have told her straight off. She must be absolutely—

Diana's good arm shot out and she grabbed Tifa's hand. "You. Are. A. Lifesaver. And I mean that literally." Oh my Goddess, how can I repay you for this? she thought.

"It's the least I could do. I couldn't let something stupid like that happen." After a second she realized what she had said. "Oh, come on. That's a huge difference. I wasn't putting myself in danger for you," she scoffed.

Diana was about to deny her friend's claims and start gloating that she was right, but just then Zack stirred more than a little. Tifa moved over to his side and another young woman entered the room through a side door. She was pretty in a delicate way, with a long brown braid and wide leaf-green eyes.

"Are any of them—oh! How are you feeling?" she worriedly asked Diana, who was struggling into a sitting position using only her right arm.

"I'm fine—"

"Fine?!" Tifa exploded at her again. "Oh, I give up. Dev, this is Aerith Gainsborough. She took care of you three."

"Thanks a lot." Diana looked at Aerith gratefully. "I really am perfectly okay," she glared at Tifa, "And besides, Zack's in worse shape." She nodded at her near-conscious friend.

"Yeah, well, he'd be one hell of a lot worse if not for someone," Tifa glared back, her frustration renewed.

"I, um, missed that," Aerith gave a wary half-laugh. "I never got the full story."

"He took three bullets for Zack," Tifa said bluntly.

"Two!" Diana protested. "The third missed!"

Tifa waved a dismissive hand while Aerith's calm face was shocked into gaping slightly at Diana. She probably would have started firing off questions like only medics can, but her attention returned to Zack when he moved again and made a noise.

Zack got quite the surprise when he opened his eyes to two concerned faces. They were friends of his, he knew, but the faces wouldn't connect with the names in his head for a second. "Hey," he said weakly. "Tifa…Aerith… What are you two doing here?" More importantly, where was here? He wasn't dead, he didn't think, and besides, Tifa and Aerith most likely weren't. Death shouldn't ache this much… He blinked rapidly as his brain tried to take in his surroundings while the minute before he had passed out came back to him all in a rush. "Dev and Cloud." He took in a sharp breath. "Are th—"

"Right here. And over there. There's no reason for us to be dead, although Tifa's been doing her best to convince me otherwise." Diana rolled her eyes.

Zack looked over at his friend and focused on 'him' intently. "Thanks. Again." He got a ducked head with a half-smile in response. "Jeez, you've gone and made a habit of this," Zack grumbled. "Now I owe you again."

"And you know what? I'm not even gonna argue this time," Diana said thoughtfully.

"You, not argue? What parallel dimension did I land in?" Zack gave her a mockingly aghast look.

"Two reasons. One: if I do, you know the only way you'll win is by threatening me with some unpleasant duty that you know I'd refuse to do at all costs. Being my superior and all. And two: I have to agree that the whole ordeal was in fact fairly unpleasant, therefore someone should somehow owe me something. So there. I win." She stubbornly stuck her tongue out at her commanding officer.

"Wait, so then your conclusion is that you win?" He couldn't help but laugh.

"'Cause I anticipated you winning if I argued. Which I didn't. So now you can't win. So I win. It all makes sense; just ask Cloud over there, he'll tell you." She made a face. "When's he gonna join the party, anyhow?" She directed this at Aerith.

"He should be waking up soon," Aerith reassured them. She said something else but Diana was distracted. She was noticing some things about Aerith. She seemed to know an awful lot…about everything. And the way she analyzed everyone when she turned her gaze on them without even realizing it. She was almost…not human.

Whoa. Speaking of.

There was a man standing in the shadows of the far corner. He was wearing all black except for a red cloak with a high collar that hid most of his lower face, and a red piece of cloth that was tied around his head, presumably to keep his hair out of his eyes. Said hair could have competed with Sephiroth's easily, although it was by contrast jet black. But as if he weren't intimidating enough already—his eyes were a vivid crimson.

"Hello," Diana commented when Aerith paused in her talking. She held the unblinking red gaze.

Everyone else looked at her like she was insane before following her line of sight and giving a start. Everyone except Aerith, which deepened Diana's suspicions.

Tifa recovered first. "Oh, hey, Vince. This is Devon Loveless, and Dev, this is Vincent Valentine of the Turks." The man—Vincent—nodded at Diana. She did the same. "If you two and Cloud need someone to thank, look no further."

"Oh, I remember!" Zack exclaimed. "I think. Yeah, thanks, man." Diana thought of the red blur of what she had assumed to be a person that she'd seen after being shot. Aha.

"Yeah, and he's also the reason you guys aren't waking up in a science lab right now," Tifa continued grimly.

Diana took in a hissing breath and her nails dug into the sheets. Science labs…

"I'd like to see them try," Zack growled protectively. He was in charge of these two, and they were his friends besides. He could never forgive himself if he landed them all in a situation like that.

"Just about took the guy's head off who brought it up," said Tifa.

"I have my…motives." Vincent spoke for the first time. He had a very deep, slightly rough voice. As he spoke, Diana glimpsed a deeply buried pain in those crimson depths of eyes. She wondered what had happened to him. What had life done to him? She looked up to squarely meet his eyes again.

"I can empathize…I think." She barely made a sound but she knew that the Turk heard her. Zack had, too, but only because he had been looking right at her and had been able to read her lips.

"Almost. But I thank you," the Turk replied in the same way. No one else noticed the little exchange.

"Hrrrmm…Ti…fa…?"

Tifa looked over quickly to where Cloud was muttering. "Cloud? Can you hear me? Wake up," she whispered.

Cloud stirred and his eyes opened slowly. For a second he thought he was dreaming about an angel. Then he realized that she was close enough, in his eyes. He reached up with one hand, slowly, carefully, to touch her face.

Zack turned from the enraptured pair, smiling, to watch the antics of his other friends.

"A few more days?" Diana yelped, staring at Aerith in dismay. "I heal faster than that!"

"It's just to make sure—" Aerith tried placatingly.

A brief note of inspiration struck Diana. "Oh my Goddess, Zack, what are you doing?" Nothing, of course.

"What?" Aerith whirled to the man who she so totally was crushing on. Zack just looked mildly confused.

Diana seized her set-up opportunity and quickly one-legged-ly kicked off her covers, safe with the knowledge that she was wearing her bandages, a loose shirt, and sweats. Upon discovering the hard way that her right leg was useless, she hopped away, cackling madly in triumph.

"I—hey! What are you—? Devon!" Aerith flailed her hands helplessly, in pursuit of the escapee. How embarrassing, freaking out over Zack…

"You'll never take me alive!!" 'He' continued to pogo-stick crazily across the room. Zack burst out laughing uncontrollably. Devon had dived under a table and popped up on the other side, dancing out of Aerith's reach. He dodged her grasps easily, weaving away, still without using his right leg. Suddenly Devon overshot his own reach and he lost his balance, arms—well, one arm—windmilling wildly. "Ahhhh…!" he made a priceless face. Aerith made a grab for him and the boy acted on instinct, jumping straight up even with his impaired balance.

Zack was pretty sure that identical looks were on the faces of all those present. Well, Vincent looked mildly interested, at least, which was about as close to shocked as you could ever get the guy to look. Devon had jumped, all right. In fact, he was hanging from one of the rafters that had previously been six feet above his head. He hooked his good leg over and dangled by his knees, grinning before he realized that something was wrong.

"Hey—what the—?" Diana looked down a glaring Aerith.

"Down. Now," Aerith fumed, hands on hips.

Zack roared with his husky laughter, nearly falling off the bed. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes when the two turned to give him equally ticked off looks, one right side up and the other upside down. "He--he--hahahahaha--you--ha--I--sorry--hahaha--ow—" He held his ribs, gasping for air.

Aerith huffed, looking back and forth between the two troublemakers. "Stay," she ordered 'Devon'. She marched off towards Zack.

"Hey, he's the puppy, not me!" Diana complained. While Aerith was distracted, she dropped clumsily down, landing with a splat. "Ow, dammit," she muttered, musing over her sudden ability to super-jump while searching for something to help her. Let's see. If Cloud is related to a chocobo, that must mean I'm related to…a developmentally challenged grasshopper? No, that can't be right… She found what she was looking for. She grabbed the single crutch from the pair that was leaning against the wall. She couldn't resist yelling, "So long, suckers!" over her shoulder as she reached for the door…

Which opened into her just as she reached it, knocking her over to send her sprawling on the floor.

Sephiroth looked down in surprise at the kid splayed out at his feet. "I'm sure there is not a reasonable explanation for this…" he said dryly. As it turned out, the sight of the disheveled teenager with a severe bedhead glaring up at him was all too much. Sephiroth cracked an amused smile and half-chuckled before looking at Aerith. "I'll leave them to you after all, then…" He backed out of the room.

"Why?" Diana despaired, flopping on her back and refusing to budge. "Ow—why me?" As Aerith managed to haul her into a chair, she absently noticed that Vincent was gone. She also saw that Cloud was sitting up and holding Tifa's hand. "Joined the living, have we?"

He smiled. "Yeah. I think I remember everything, even though I was—you know. Sorry for, like, entirely checking out like that on you guys," he muttered, his face falling.

Diana snorted and waved a hand. "Yeah, right. You did great anyway. 'S not your fault you had the bad luck to get hit just then."

He gave her a despairing look with those huge sky blue eyes. "You did, too, but you didn't…" he trailed off.

She fixed him with a look. "I was practically already on the ground. And you know, different people have different reactions to the stuff. Speaking of which," she looked to Aerith yet again, "while we're trapped here under dictatorship, could you enlighten us on that particular subject?"

Aerith stopped glowering. "I suppose I should. There's not much to it, really." She settled herself on Diana's recently vacated bed. "Mako isn't as simple as being an energy source. You know that part of the SOLDIER procedure is receiving injections, along with other cells that the scientists handle. We actually had to give you three mako to help you recover. You've been here for two days as it is."

"Wait, so it's helping us even though bullets made with the same stuff nearly killed us?" Cloud cocked his chocobo-like head to the side.

"It works the same way some venom in animals does. It all depends on how it's used." Aerith raised her eyebrows at Zack, bringing up an old memory.

He put his hands up in defense. "I'm telling you, that stupid venomous snake was seriously contemplating having me for lunch!" Everyone else started laughing at the fragment of a story. Zack shuddered. "That's what you get for being raised in a jungle village. See how you like it…"

"Anyhow," Aerith rolled her eyes. "Um, Devon?"

"Uh-huh?" she was still smiling.

"Something weird came up on your tests. Sound familiar? If you want, we can talk about it somewhere else." Everyone gave Diana confused and concerned looks immediately.

Diana's brow wrinkled as she frowned. Something weird? What could be off? She shook her head worriedly.

"It's not bad, per say, or anything, just…unusual." Aerith shifted. She'd never encountered something like this in an unmodified human before, since all the SOLDIERs she treated were obviously already stoked with it. "There were already traces of mako in your system." Aerith plowed on. "It wasn't from your injuries, because it gives off different signals when it's used as a weapon. It was used to heal and strengthen."

All Diana could do was dumbly shake her head slowly. None of that made sense. For the love of Gaia, she even hated needles!

"But the really weird part—" Wait, the really weird part? "—was when we ran a couple more tests. We tried to get an idea of the timeframe when the mako entered your system. I mean, there wasn't a whole lot of it, and, again, all we found were the traces, but…" She was really agitated now, wringing her hands. "I know you're just nineteen, but according to the tests…you received the mako almost exactly twenty years ago. We retried and retried, but that's the only result we can come up with."

"…I don't understand…" Diana got up and started pacing, at least, as well as she could with the crutch. For her to have had mako before was mystifying enough, but twenty years ago? That was just screwy. She would have had only barely been concei—

She froze, turned around the other way from her friends. "Oh, they did NOT!" With her yell, she dropped her support and whirled to face the rest of the room. They just looked bewildered. She turned this way and that, enraged but unable to move. "That's freaking inhumane! I'm going to kill that man! I don't believe this!"

Tifa was in front of her suddenly, taking her by the shoulder. "Dev. Dev. Calm down. Explain. Please."

"Okay, but first let me out of here so I can go commit some premeditated homicide." Diana ground her teeth together fiercely. She normally wasn't this violent, but this was a special case. She strained toward the door beyond the one friend who knew more about her than anyone else did right now.

"Who, Dev? Who?" Tifa asked desperately.

"Doctor Hojo," she snarled.

A/N: *crawls out from under rock* Ha! See? Now you can't kill me! I wouldn't kill off Zack, he's too amazing:) not to mention gorgeous. Anyway. Back to business. So, yeah, this one was a little bit shorter than recently, but I thought enough crazy stuff went on. Cliffhanger! Again! What's the Hojo connection? o.O You shall see…but I wanna hear ideas! Got any? (Psst…Zack says to review. Or he'll sic his huge-ass sword on you. Then again, that might not be so bad if it was him…) Oh, and did anyone notice that Zack woke up (when he came back to life or whatever you wanna call it) to a pair of _purple_ eyes?? Hmm…what is this? Ideas/comments on that little detail also appreciated! (I give UltimateFreedom credit for that element in there. Oh the ideas we dream up while at the mall…) Haha, hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading! 


	8. A Series of Unexpected Discoveries

Fearless

**Disclaimer:**

**A/N: To start I just wanna say thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story so far, you guys are great and even if I've already told you everything…heh…I hope you still like it UltimateFreedom! Ha. Thank you YourChemicalRomancex, xxDarkAssassinxx, fragmentsofmemories16, animechick247, Tek Sonay, LoveTheCrazy, ZakuReno, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, PixieGirl17, and last but not least UltimateFreedom!**

**So I have this tendency to be unable to resist turning just about everything into a subtle songfic… I'm so hopeless. So far the playlist I've got down (roughly chronologically) is: Second Chance by Shinedown, Mr. Brightside by The Killers, That's What You Get by Paramore, and Unknown Soldier by Breaking Benjamin. I think you can guess pretty well what scene the last one applies to if you reread, oh, say, chapter 6, and listen to the song… I'm such a spoiler, ugh! Lol. Well hopefully you like my music:) **

**And also I hafta say – you have been warned – we meet Genesis in this chapter. Ohhh boy. So all you Genesis-freak-fans…yeah. It's brief, but he'll show up again, trust me. Enjoy! :)**

**Chapter 8: A Series of Unexpected Discoveries**

Everyone blinked in shock.

"Devon? Hojo's been dead for years." Tifa tried to calm Diana. It worked, up to a point. Her muscles slackened slightly.

"Wh-what?"

"Years. Trust me." She helped Diana sit again. "What's the deal?"

Diana breathed it off for a minute. All right. It's all right. No one's going to hurt you here. Just tell the story, keep it simple and concise. "Emm…this may take a minute. Relax, Zack, you already know this part." Diana glanced at her friend who was beyond worried, but it wasn't like he was exactly showing it openly. She thanked the Goddess again quickly for her gift of interpretation. This was going to get more than a little delicate here.

"Long story short: twenty years ago my parents decided that they wanted a son and a daughter, twins. They employed scientists to help them get what they wanted. Said scientists somehow convinced our naïve parents to help the cause of scientific progress," she said it as if she were talking about roadkill, "by letting them play with our genes. For one thing, normally it isn't possible to have near-identical twins of opposite genders, but here we are, and they also tweaked some things so that our appearances subtly change, but that's beside the point. Anyway, what we weren't supposed to know was that those scientists, engineers, whatever, almost took us from our parents and we would have grown up in a lab. Just guess who the head of the team was," she sped through grimly. "Hojo. And based on that, I think we can safely say that both me and my sister, and our mother, were on the receiving end of some superhuman enhancements twenty years ago."

There was a silence, the sound of friends digesting the load of information that they never imagined. What anyone in that room, friends or not, ever said about his or her family life and past was only limited. If some knew, then they knew, and if they didn't, well there was no excuse to be advertising potential weaknesses to the rest of the world. It was like the drip of a faucet, one that let out the occasional droplet of water but was mostly sealed up tight, nothing entering, nothing exiting. The handle had just been bumped and the seal had caved in before abruptly being jammed shut again.

"My Goddess…" delicate Aerith murmured, one small hand over her mouth as if subconsciously.

"Sad thing is, that wouldn't've exactly been the first time," Zack made a face. He exchanged knowing looks with Tifa and Aerith, then addressed Cloud and Diana. "This is gonna get complicated too, so I'm gonna jump in and you're gonna hang on." He ran a hand through his raven spikes and launched into the second complex spiel of the conversation. "I'm going to start by saying that Sephiroth's biological parents are Hojo, and Lucretia Crescent, another scientist."

Sephiroth? Thought Diana. What does the most famous first class of all time have to do with this? Hojo's child? Oh, dear Goddess.

"She was the good kind, though. She and Hojo together were like the pencil-eraser analogy. Now, she originally worked for Vincent's father." He jerked his head toward where the Turk had been, and saw his friends put away this information. "Okay, so later, he died. But poor Vincent was left, and—okay, few people know this, so, hush-hush, yeah?—turns out he'd fallen in love with Lucretia."

"Whooooa, whoa, whoa! But he – they –" Cloud waved his hands around, extremely weirded out as he pieced together the timeline and ages.

"Vincent's actually, like, fifty-something, just there's this thing that keeps him young, and – I'll get to that. So Hojo, being the creep he was, gets jealous cause she's showing signs of loving him back, at some point shoots Vincent and nearly kills the poor kid. Lucretia saves him but pretty much has to turn him into an 'experiment' to do so safely. Remember, she has to work around Dr. Certified Psychopath. La-de-dah and Vincent ends up with the essence of the supernatural being Chaos inside him – it kinda sorta keeps him immortal and ridiculously strong – and meanwhile poor Lucretia ends up pregnant with Hojo's child – " he shuddered along with everyone else's blanching faces – "A.k.a. Sephiroth. So naturally Hojo pulls out all his wonderful science, and bam, Sephy's got mako and Goddess only knows how much other crap in him before he's even born. When he is, Hojo takes him away from his mother immediately," he choked on his words a little. That was awful, any way you looked at it. "Sound familiar? Anyway, in the end, Vincent gets out, superpowers and all, Lucretia runs away and is to this day frozen in a crystal of her own doing, Hojo is now dead, and we have the fantastic Sephiroth in the flesh. But you guys never heard anything, right?" he finished and looked from Devon to Cloud and back again. They jerked their heads slightly nonresponsively and he decided he could trust them enough to leave it at that. There went that metaphorical faucet again. This time it wasn't their secret to tell, so that particular handle would stay locked tight for a while.

"I'm not sure whether to be relieved or insulted that some lucky bastard beat me to him." Diana sat back in her chair, crossing her arms.

"Be relieved," said Aerith, unusually dour. "Let's say I've had my own brief experience with being a lab rat," she said to the two cadets.

After a few seconds of the faucet being shut off again so quickly that someone might not have even noticed it had leaked, Zack chuckled slightly, instantly lighting up the room. "Although this one," he nodded at Devon, "and his temper, up against Hojo, would be fairly entertaining."

Diana grinned shakily. "You know it." She felt a weird bond to Sephiroth all of a sudden. They were a little similar in such an odd way. Taken from her thoughts, she turned to Aerith. "Hm?"

"I said, you're going back to bed –"

"Hey! I'm Superman, remember? Make way for the freak!" The damp mood having been lifted, she hobbled for the door quickly. Two pairs of hands yanked her back. "Oh, come on, really?" she protested.

"Help me find the pre-wrap," Diana called over her shoulder to Tifa, rummaging through a cupboard in one of the many supply rooms in the hospital wing. Okay, so 'supply room' was a loose term. 'Glorified janitor's closet with more useful materials among lots of crap' was more like it, she thought. But thank goodness she and Zack had been released from Aerith's care there after another day. Cloud was still there but couldn't have more than a day left. Besides, Diana could tell that Tifa hated seeing her boyfriend stuck in the infirmary.

Tifa poked through a mound of debris on the floor with one foot. "Gross. I don't see any here… Try that closet over there?"

"Erm…" Diana picked her way across all six feet of the cluttered floor. "This o—aauuggh!" A string of muffled shrieked profanities came from the heap that had exploded out of said closet and buried the girl.

Tifa looked over quickly and her eyebrows shot up. "Only you," she sighed, reaching for the hand that was waving from the load of who-even-knows-what.

"Ugh. Forget it. I don't even wanna know," Diana nearly tripped in her haste to get away from the cursed closet, shedding her personal trademark dark green cargo jacket and throwing it over the back of a chair. "Ah, let's just leave the mess—no, someone else in worse shape will come in here and they'll be totally screwed over. Okay, help me out." Together the two young women managed to shove everything back into its (hopefully) previous position and took turns throwing themselves at the door of the closet to get the thing to shut. Diana was thoughtful and taped a sign to it. WARNING: Excessive amounts of stuff will explode out if door is opened, she scrawled out. "There," she grinned, leaning back against the door that led out to the rest of the hospital ward. "Good enough."

Suddenly, something very mysterious happened. The hard surface disappeared from behind her all at once, and a rush of cool air met her back as she wildly windmilled her arms in a hopeless attempt to stay upright. "Whoooa—Ahhhh!" Then her boots had to go and slip and she landed flat on her back, wheezing from dust and nearly having the wind knocked out of her on the hard linoleum. She opened her eyes, rather put-out and already glaring. Someone must have opened it… She kept looking up and up, and eventually found a mildly interested pair of glass green eyes looking back. Oh.

She slipped and slid all over the place as she scrambled to get up, saluting the General on the way. "Sir! Sorry, sir. Can I help you?"

Sephiroth merely blinked once in amusement. "At ease, cadet." His gaze shifted to Tifa. "Hello, Lockhart."

"Afternoon, General, Commander." She nodded to another man who had been standing behind Sephiroth. Diana hadn't noticed him in her haste.

The man now looked up lazily from a small book he held in his gloved hand. He had reddish-brown hair and mako blue eyes with a little bit of green in them, and was a couple inches shorter than Sephiroth. Which still made him several inches above Diana, and certainly Tifa. And, of course, he was impossibly attractive. "Hello Tifa." He turned idly to Diana. "And who's the cadet? Manners, Sephy," he mockingly chided the General.

"You've been hanging around Fair too much," Sephiroth growled. "I'm going to kill that kid one of these days," he muttered under his breath. Trust Zack Fair to start all the insanity and the bothersome trends. Not to mention the glorious nicknames. Like that one time he got everyone hyped up with the suspicion that at least ninety percent of the female population of Midgar was on a mission to break into ShinRa so they could chop off Sephiroth's hair in his sleep and then steal Angeal's sword and then track down Genesis and…never mind. And then there was the week of fun with the cleaning supplies. Sephiroth had learned the hard way that putting Zack on janitor duty was more of a punishment for the rest of the world rather than the puppy. He tried not to remember the freak accident involving the Director's bathroom on one of the top floors, a hacksaw, and the back flight of stairs…emphasis on the freak.

Oh. He had to introduce the newbie…oh. Hm. Even in Sephiroth terms, this wasn't on his list of things to torture people with. Even if they were only newbies who would deserve it in one way or another. And even if it would be just the slightest bit entertaining to watch. Oh well.

"This is Genesis Rhapsodos, and Genesis, this is Devon Loveless." He rushed the last part, not putting too much emphasis on unnecessary parts.

It was enough anyway. Genesis started openly staring at the slender youth in front of him. The kid looked back apprehensively, getting thoroughly weirded out, but the obsessive man didn't even hardly notice. The commander gathered his scrambled wits in a second, however, and flashed a charming smile. "I'm sure you're aware what an, ah, unusual surname you possess," he said smoothly.

"Er. Well, um, not really, sir, I mean…" He leaned a little farther away from Genesis.

"Right! Well! We were just looking for some materials and are completely lost, could you tell us where…" Tifa saved her friend and rattled off a list of complicated-sounding items to Sephiroth while Genesis continued to watch Devon with interest.

Sephiroth gave Tifa some directions, then paused. "What would you need all that for? He actually looked a little at a loss. Just the tiniest bit. But that was, like, enormous for him.

"I need it," Diana butted in. Tifa looked at her in surprise. "I have, eh, some preexisting medical conditions," she specified to the General.

"Preexisting? What is it that has happened recently?" Genesis cocked his head to the side earnestly.

"Well, sir, we went on a mission in Wutai, and things just got all messed up at the end, and, um…" she trailed off. Was she really going to explain? Um, how about no.

"I'm sure Angeal can tell you all about it and besides I have to go find out where his puppy is so I can kill him again. Good day." Sephiroth nodded to the two and managed to drag off a scarily staring Genesis.

"That was awkward beyond belief," Diana stated. "That dude's got issues. And I think that's the longest speech I've ever heard the General utter. Hey, can you help me with the bandages and all once we find the stuff?"

Tifa grinned. "Sure thing. Oh, and the reason for Genesis' creepiness? He's, like, obsessed with this play that was written a long time ago but has a missing ending and is supposedly unfinished. He's constantly annoying the crap out of everyone, especially his poor secretary, quoting it allll the time…and it's called Loveless."

Diana blinked. "Weird. Whatever. I like my name. It works." Tifa merely gave a secret little smile. Oh, what her friend was too blind to see herself what was meant to be someday…

Twenty minutes later, the two were back in Diana and Cloud's dorm bathroom with several large rolls each of tan pre-wrap, stretch tape, white tape, padding tape, and linen bandages. Diana sat on a stool and had completely covered her upper torso with the stretchy pre-wrap, leaving her hands free to hold things for Tifa, who was helping her out otherwise. The two had devised a smarter way for Diana to handle her little issue. She would have to redo them every time she took a shower anyway, so why not make it more comfortable and more effective?

"Hey, I had a question about Aerith…" Diana began. Tifa nodded as she tore off a few squares of padding for her friend's bruised ribs before taking some measurements around her. "Is she…human?"

Tifa smiled. "You picked up on that, huh? She's actually a Cetra—"

Diana gasped. "No way! One of the Ancients? They're extinct, though!"

"Actually, not quite… She's the last. Like, the last. Come on, you should know this, it's your part of the world, after all!" Tifa elbowed her jokingly.

"Oh, wow… I didn't think there were any still around. Wow. Okay. So my other question—are she and Zack, like…a thing?"

"You mean are they together?" Tifa was smirking satisfactorily inside. So she did care. "No, but she wishes."

"Now, that I could see." Diana didn't know why that bugged her the tiniest bit and she didn't want to think the thought through.

"Mm. So if it's this far around your chest and this far your ribs, and take the average and add a little for safety's sake… How many yards are there per roll? …Times the number of days… I figure with these four rolls of stretch tape you'll be good for the next, say, two months?"

"That's it?"

"That's actually pretty good. Good thing these roll things are, like, massive. You won't look too suspicious. Oh, and for your little 'medical problem' hence the excessive amounts of wrap you'll be using… This is the story. When you were very young, there was an accident involving a motorbike that you normally don't like to talk about for personal sensitive reasons. Several of your vertebrae were messed up—you were far too young to understand and never really got the details—and that's why you need the extra support even now."

"Um, sweet!" Diana smiled at her friend's genius. She stood and stretched, then winced slightly. "I'm gonna just go ahead and take advantage of the time, and leave them off for now," she smiled wider.

"Okay then, just be prepared to make a dive for the bathroom," Tifa laughed.

"No sweat. I have the reflexes of a tiger. Rawrrr…" Diana said sarcastically. Tifa left the bathroom to go sit on Diana's bed in the dorm, and Diana threw on a pair of comfortable jeans and a tank top. It felt like freedom.

The two carried on chatting and gossiping and those other great things that you can spend hours obsessing over and not even realize it. Then, in the midst of a loud, insane laughing fit…

The door opened.

And in walked a young man with chocobo hair.

Tifa and Diana looked up at the same time, their laughs dying and unavoidable expression of alarm taking over. All Diana could do really was sit and stare. Tifa was doing so as well, gaping at her boyfriend in despair for probably the only time in her life.

Cloud was certainly doing a fair amount of staring, himself, mostly in places he really shouldn't have been. He did a rather good gasping-fish impression.

What the hell? Some chick was in his and Devon's room with Tifa, and the random chick looked freaking exactly like his roommate himself! How did that even work? Was he going insane? No, he could see fine. But nothing even made any sense here. Except the idea that maybe very kind of possibly his roommate was… Agghh! What was this world coming to?

Silence reigned supreme for about five seconds. Cloud broke up the party.

"Why didn't you tell us you're a trans?" he fairly screeched.

Blink. "What!" she shrieked back, in her 'girl voice' to boot.

Tifa was the only one to remotely keep her head. "Get inside, you idiot!" She grabbed Cloud and yanked him inside the dorm, locking the door behind him.

Diana covered her eyes with one hand. "Well, the cat's out of the bag. Teef, I feel like we've got quite a bit of explaining to do now."

"This may take a while." Tifa grabbed Cloud again and plopped him in a chair across from the two girls.

"Damn straight it might!" Cloud, said, sounding strangled, at the same time as Diana, who muttered the words.

Cloud continued alone, picking up speed and reminding Diana rather of a snowball rolling down a hill. "Why didn't you tell us? Tell me? I mean, it's not all that big a deal, I guess, but don't you trust us? I'm your friend! After all—"

"Cloud. I'm going to say two things. One: I'm sorry, but I couldn't tell anyone this before. And two: that particular something isn't what you're thinking right now." At least, not technically. Diana lifted her head from her hands.

"I—what? What do you mean? What other explanation might you have for showing up looking like a chick when you're—wait—hey…no, that doesn't… Dude, just tell me, are you a guy or a girl?" Poor Cloud's head was practically about to explode. Nothing even added up that way… So, what, his friend had taken to cross-dressing? Extremely convincing though it may be, it was freaking him out.

"Well, see, that's not quite so easy. What I mean is—"

"For the love of Gaia, you're both, aren't you!" He had nothing against it, of course, but hadn't he earned Dev's trust enough to be told something like this?

"No!" she yelped. This was going all wrong. "Look—I'm going to state this in the least weird-sounding way I can and pray that you don't make any more screwy misinterpretations." She took a careful breath. "I don't have a sister. I have—" she ignored the verb tense for now— "a brother. I am the sister."

Cloud had half risen and he plonked down again, all the air leaving his lungs. What? Oh… This was too much to handle in the morning…and he knew he didn't have the good luck to still be dreaming. He began thinking rationally and half-got what she had said. Oops. He had just freaked out and insulted his best friend's sister. When he opened his mouth, the girl he had mistaken for his friend got an apprehensive expression on her face. Goddess help me… he thought. That was so awkward.

"So you're Devon's sister, huh? You, uh…look a lot alike…" he stated lamely.

Diana laughed humorlessly. What he had said was actually right! But he didn't have a clue about the truth, which she knew she just had to tell the poor guy now. "Yes. And, yeah, we get that a lot. I have a little more to explain, though…"

He cocked his head to the side. He had apparently been forgiven. Whew. "Yeah?"

She got a fixed look on her face that warned him that she was about to be very blunt and straightforward. "Um, my brother hasn't been your roommate. My brother's actually never been here. Cloud…I am who you thought my brother was."

What in the hell was that supposed to mean! What, now he'd been hallucinating for the past few weeks? Girls couldn't even get into the SOLDIER cadet force, much less survive the training. It was all a plan…a plot to seriously mess with his head… His brain started going into overdrive again. "Bullshit," he finally stated. "That's impossible," he said flatly after a second.

"No, it's not," she said determinedly. "I'm here. I've been here. Sorry for not telling you, really, but I'm not big on inviting trouble in via rumors."

"But you…how…? That's not…" he faltered weakly.

"There are ways." She was slightly cold now. "It's just the price I pay. But it's worth it." It's my destiny calling me, she thought. How lame sounding. Life could be a real movie most of the time, and no one even realized it. But she felt like it was true, all the same.

Cloud was now making some great faces and incomprehensible noises, gesturing at her and everything else, causing her face to grow just a little bit pinker. "Yeah? There are ways," she said grimly. He blanched slightly. "And, no, none of this involved legit physical modification in any way, shape, or form." She rolled her eyes.

"So. Then. Nice to, uh, meet you, Diana. Again." Cloud stuck out his hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Cloud. Again." She took the hand and shook it once.

"…Does this mean you get first dibs on the bathroom?" Cloud asked warily after a second. "I mean, think about it—"

"No! Cloud, you start thinking like that and I'm done for. It's just like it's always been, okay? I'm totally serious that other than you two, no one can know. Remember what I said about info getting leaked, the night before the mission?" Diana grabbed Cloud's forearm and looked at him imploringly.

"O-oh. Right. Yeah, I remember. You're right…but dontcha think we should at least tell Max and Shane…?" He trailed off at the flat 'you're missing something' look she gave him. "Good point. Scratch that."

**A/N: You like it? :D Hah great, people just keep walking in at bad times…just wait till later. Maybe I should have titled it "Walk-Ins"…but no, too sketchy. Doesn't actually quite fit quite right. Anyhoo, moving on from my hyper drabbling. Hope you liked it, lotsa shockers thrown in there! Too rushed? Reactions/reviews appreciated! :) thanks**


	9. When Normal Runs Away

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Is there honestly a need for these by now?**

**A/N: So this one's a little less deep dark depressing-ness and a little more humor, thank you very much, although the next chapter (which btw will be just a tad shorter) gets rather heavy. Oh well. Whaddaya gonna do. Here we meet another one of our favorite characters…I'm not gonna tell you who! Bwahaha! Okay.**

**Oh and you like the music themes I thought up? Maybe you enjoyed those. Let me know and… Enjoy! :)**

**Chapter 9**

Cloud pounded on the bathroom door. "We gotta go, sis – man! Hurry it up! And no excuses!"

"Tampons are not any easier to use when you're being repeatedly harassed!" she shrieked back. She knew that Max and Shane were already out of the dorm, and at this point, she was through with stress. Diana could hear him backpedal from the door, fast.

"What's up with you two?" She heard Tifa's voice, muffled through the door.

"Sh – he – that one is threatening me with feminine products!" Cloud spluttered. Diana could just see his face going pink. Make that red. Possibly purple. Maybe he'd have an apoplexy if she encouraged him enough, and then they'd have a legitimate excuse for their extreme lateness…

Pause. "Tampons," Tifa uttered. She looked at the bathroom door, close to collapsing in giggles like a twelve-year-old at the look on her boyfriend's face. Cloud looked annoyed, but softened when he turned his gaze to her. He held out his arms tentatively and she wrapped her arms around his middle, sighing softly as she breathed in his scent. He kissed the top of her smooth black hair and murmured something. "Hm?" Tifa turned her head up to see his sky blue eyes. It turned out that she wouldn't get her answer until later. Diana stomped out just then, pulling a shirt on over her head.

"Finally!" her roommate fumed while Tifa went back to trying to keep the bubbly giggles down. He disentangled himself from Tifa, and chucked Diana's boots at her, threw her famous green jacket at her head, and dragged her out the door.

"Go fast! You're running late!" Tifa called after them cheerily, winking at Cloud.

"Like I don't know?" Cloud grumbled, hauling a temporarily blinded-by-jacket Diana along.

"I can walk for myself! Or run!"

Some passing second classes just smiled and shook their heads at the already notorious pair. What was it this time? No one was actually sure if they wanted to know. It was only a matter of time until their friend Zack Fair corrupted them further, and then they'd have a situation no one wanted to consider on their hands.

'Devon' hurried after Cloud, who had released her. She struggled to get free of her jacket while holding onto her boots and attempting to navigate the treacherous stairwell. Obviously SOLDIERs didn't need handrails. Finally getting her arms into the sleeves, she tried to hop down the stairs while pulling her boots on. Not the easiest thing to do. Especially with your friend screaming at you nonstop from the next flight down the entire time. She thought she caught something about how the swordsmaster would hang them from a tree after getting their roommates really drunk and giving them staves for practice with moving targets… Misheard or not, not such a great prospect. As she paused on a landing, she overbalanced slightly, her resulting yell increasing in magnitude as she tried and failed to hop in her stronger leg to regain her position. Her other foot was stuck and she couldn't put it down, and – oh, fiddlesticks. In fact, she went and hopped right off the landing.

"Agh! Ow! Shit! Aaaughh! %&*$*!" She put some extra colorful language she'd picked up from Cid the boisterous pilot to good use, punctuating each thud down the steps with some rather imaginative expressions. When's it going to stopstopSTOP? With a final crash, she slammed into something relatively solid at the bottom. But not a wall. Ah, hell, with her luck, it was someone important.

She scrambled to her feet for what seemed like the millionth time since day one. She looked up, expecting the worst at this point – although she couldn't decide it Zack, Sephiroth, or the Director would be the worst right now.

Well, it wasn't any of them, but she recognized the flaming redhead anyway. It was one of the two Turks from when Zack had been giving them all orientation in the very beginning…the one who wasn't supposed to be there, or whatever. Oh boy. Diana had immediately marked him as a guy who not only attracted trouble, he went purposefully searching for it.

"Hey there, yo. Whatcha doin' on the ground, huh?" he inquired, a sly smile sneaking its way onto his face. He loved tormenting the newbies! It was an entertaining hobby. And this one was particularly small and klutzy.

"Love to stay and chat, but I gotta run," she said hurriedly, yanking the damn renegade boot all the way on and attempting to make a dive for the door. The swordsmaster was going to have her hide as it was, and she made the mistake of pointing this out to the Turk in her haste. Cloud was already long gone.

"Really now. What a shame. You'd better run along now then, small one," he taunted, standing smack in the doorway.

She slowly turned her eyes to his face again, as they had previously been frantically flicking around the floor and the door behind him. She didn't realize it, but they had turned so light a gray that they were almost white. It was creepy. The Turk's own eyes flared slightly for a second before lapsing back to his leering expression.

"You're in my way," she stated coldly.

"What's that? I don't believe I heard you," he sneered condescendingly, that obnoxious smirk still on his angular face.

"I said, you're in my way, damned Turkey." Icicles cracked on her words.

The two tried and failed to stare each other down for another five seconds. Diana was just about to suggest that she just make things easier and smash out the window with his head instead, when he suddenly laughed and reached over to smack her on the arm.

"Hey, you're cool, yo!" It was a real grin. Huh? "Name's Reno. See ya round!" He smacked her on the back and trotted off up the stairs.

Diana blinked. Rewind button, anyone? She thought before remembering where she was supposed to be. Oh. Right. She continued through the recently vacated doorway, taking the steps down three at a time. She burst out a heavy door and pelted across the training yard, seeing the Cloud had reached the group…alllll the way over yonder. Absofrigginlutely fantastic. They tended not to appreciate lateness in the army. Like, really not. Seeing the figure's back whom she assumed to be the trainer raise a clipboard and open his mouth, she cursed and accelerated.

Cloud looked around in apprehension. No Devon…he meant Diana. Jeez. Being in on a secret was so confusing sometimes. Then he saw the slight figure running for them at full blast. He smacked a hand over his eyes and groaned quietly. Max looked at him inquisitively.

"Our small friend's about to make an entrance and Angeal's about to get a surprise," Cloud elucidated. Max saw Devon coming and failed to suppress a snigger of anticipation.

"We seem to be missing one…" drawled the trainer, not particularly eager to dish out more late punishments. "Lov—"

"Loveless! Here, sorry, sir!" Devon called as he skidded into line, panting and raising a small dust cloud.

"Hmph. Well then. All right." The first class grumpily made a mark on the sheet on his clipboard of doom. The man who was supposed to be doing this job had been sent off on a month-long diplomacy mission, and look who had been drafted into his slot without consent. Fantastic. Sure, he was normally good-natured, but what bugged him was the utter cluelessness of a good percentage of the cadet population. It was like being the wide-eyed, stupefied freshman in high school all over again.

A minute later, Angeal was done giving them instructions but held Diana and Cloud back. "In a way, you're lucky I'm here so someone else isn't haranguing you asking why you were gone and missed a good part of the training. Not so lucky cause you'll need to stay for extra help. You missed an entire week and a half, you know." Between the mission and the time spent in the hospital wing with Aerith later, a lot of time had passed. And besides that, it had been a bit hard to stay in shape with, oh, say, mako poisoning or a fractured shin. For example.

"Yes, sir," the younger man and woman both nodded. This sure would be something.

Angeal held up a hand. "However, I don't have the time—I have to tend to my second classes and paperwork besides—but Zack volunteered to help his friends out." The man's mouth quirked to the side. How Zack went through with life he never could quite figure out. No one knew how he managed to get all his paperwork in and yet be seen doing any number of stupid, hazardous things at everyone else's expense. Well, at least, everyone knew it was him. He was smart enough not to get caught…most of the time. It was funny how he'd befriended these two. What a dangerous trio. Not unlike himself, Genesis, and Sephiroth at their age… He stopped reminiscing and told them what they could start with for today.

After a rather long while, Gigantor took it upon himself to subtly (or so he believed) edge closer to where Cloud and 'midget boy' were doing their stuff. It had eventually occurred to him, amazing as it may have been, that the two were doing what the rest of the group had done over a week ago. "Still ain't caught up, are ya?"

"In case it happened to evade your no doubt impeccable scrutiny," Diana replied coolly without taking her eyes off what she was doing, "We have in fact been missing for the past while and therefore have missed all events and activities around here resulting in our subsequent albeit temporary lack of knowledge on this subject matter which I'm sure your highly adept self is likely more than proficient at by this point in time."

The giant blinked. Cloud ducked his head and successfully hid a snicker when he realized that the man had little idea of what Devon had just said, much less picked up on the insults in his sarcasm. Er, her sarcasm. Diana's. No, Devon's. He had to think of her as just another guy when they were around other people. Right. Well, either way, right now he couldn't be more glad of her way with words. She didn't even have to get to fancy with the vocabulary, just the way she said it sufficed to bewilder.

"So y'are just slow-assed learners," Gigantor leered, coming to his own misguided conclusion.

Diana just straightened fully them and turned her head to look him full in the face with a pair of pale gray eyes. She was still secretly fuming about her first encounter with this jerk. "Yes. We're incredibly dumb, so much you wouldn't believe, and we've been rerunning everything that we never did the first time which doesn't even make sense and completely were not not here and definitely didn't miss anything because by the Goddess wouldn't that be a pain to try to make up after half a week and would you look at the time it's taken you a good couple of hours to pick up on all this fascinating stuff I bet you never knew you had it in you well I didn't know a lot of things about myself either until several days ago you can't imagine what fun it is to just have answers popping up in your face everywhere you turn without even having known the question first and did I fail to mention what it's like trying to navigate around and live life for a few days with bandages all over you feeling like the living dead which is just ever so enjoyable and if you happen to so much as—"

She suddenly felt a light hand on her shoulder. She was debating halfway between turning and decking whoever it was, or just screaming in their face, but decided instead to squeeze her eyes shut for a second and pray she looked vaguely sane. She opened them again and saw Zack come up beside her.

"Back to training…all of you," he said shortly before turning to Diana and saying quietly, "Was that our language or not?"

"Absolutely," she muttered, still seething. What could she say? Men don't get their effing periods! Much less have to hide it, symptoms and all.

"One of these times y' won't have no first class to hide behind," Gigantor sneered, ignoring (or quite possibly failing to hear) Zack's order. Diana saw the characteristic way the corded muscles in Zack's arms tightened slightly and he grew absolutely still, as he did whenever someone was bashing his friends. Fighting the sudden intense urge to stare at said arms—damn these blasts of hormones—she instead swept Zack aside and stepped forward, getting as up close and personal as she could with the offender, considering her height.

"I. Hide. Behind. No one," she snarled. It wasn't just the guy that annoyed her. It was the pet peeve that he had chosen to go after.

Her eyes were going paler and creepier by the second, and the large man actually stumbled back a step and a half. She just followed, getting closer. He had struck a nerve and on top of everything else it was pissing her off. A growl built in her throat and she bit it off.

"Let's get going already. I need to hit something," she growled, spinning back and stalking past her friends. Cloud practically cowered back into Zack. He made a mental note not to argue with Tifa when she was PMSing.

After a moment, Zack dared to speak. "You know, one of these days that mouth of yours is gonna get you into some serious crap." He was half serious, but being Zack, he was also half joking.

She half-laughed herself, the sound slightly hysterical. "Yeah. You're telling me."

That night in the mess hall, she told her four friends about her run-in with Reno the Turk.

"And he just let you go by," Zack asked dryly. That was so unlike Reno that it wasn't even funny. Not like he doubted Dev, but to him it sounded like someone had spiked Reno's coffee that morning. It wasn't like it would be the first incident…

"Well, first he tried to pull the 'I'm going to entertain myself by torturing newbies with my awesome Turkey powers and no doubt unmatched IQ' but then I just kinda…well, I got ticked off and after a second he just kinda was like 'man, you're okay, yo' and ran off. He likes that word. A lot. Is that normal?" she rambled on.

"It's Reno. Normal comes nowhere near that guy," Zack rolled his eyes, stuffing his face with spaghetti. "If anything – 'scuse me – it runs away screaming."

"Hm." She caught his eye and knew he was thinking the same thing as her. "Who would've spiked the coffee?" she wanted to know.

"There's plenty who would like to stick something in Reno's drink, trust me," Zack said dryly. "I just keep him around to pull pranks with and then frame him…which never seems to work quite so well…" He frowned slightly. "But that one time when he set an entire one of the fields on fire with that damn flamethrower he made was completely his—"

"He made a flamethrower? Wicked!" Max crowed.

"Not if you're the one getting your ass lit on fire!" Zack moaned. "Or chased around until… Now there, I won't go into detail. And, no," he fixed Max with a look, "I'm not going to tell you how to make one. That'd be double the menace to society."

Max snorted and rolled his foxy brown eyes. "I wasn't gonna ask that…"

"Bull," Shane stated in between inhaling forkfuls of spaghetti.

How are they all so damn skinny? Diana wrinkled her nose. Guys. They eat like pigs, show off how amazingly strong they are and how much endurance they have nonstop, then go back to stuffing their faces again. Yet if anything they lose weight and have no butts to speak of whatsoever? I've got some news for you, Gaia: some interesting choices in the laws of nature there. Then again, I can't complain. I've always had a high metabolism and I definitely work it off more than enough. She had been way hungrier than normal since she got here. It made total sense, and coupled with her perpetual slight muscle soreness, it was actually a good feeling. It meant that she was getting stronger. Her friends had had a tendency to envy her ability to scarf down everything in sight, then go run a few miles, go eat ice cream, whatever, and never have to give it a second thought. The drawback was her lack of curves. Not like I need anything else to give me away, she thought wryly. And no butt besides. After a second she caught herself thinking about certain guys and—nevermindmovingonnow! She shook her head hard, forgetting she had been in the middle of a conversation.

"Whassa matter?" Cloud asked.

She looked up wide-eyed and instinctively recoiled back behind her defenses. "—Never mind. Just, you know, thinking."

"…Kay." He could make an educated guess at what. Also a second guess. But he wasn't going to say that…and then he really wasn't going to say that!

A/N: You like, yeah? XD Yes Reno made his appearance! I warned you… And um yeah so this is pretty much exactly what I would act like if I got severe PMS, which I hardly ever do but whatever, I figured I could speak from experience. Ha so does anyone have an idea of what Cloud's thoughts are in his parting line? Reviews make me happy…! Thanks for reading :) 


	10. The Violet Reaction

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer via convo with UltimateFreedom:**

**Ultimate: I had this ah-mazing dream last night!**

**Run4life: NO WAY what was it?**

**Ultimate: We were in college and dating Zack and Derek and we were about to go out somewhere when they told us to meet them at their SOLDIER dorm, and…well…when we got there…**

**R4L: Oh damn.**

**Ultimate: Ya think? The best part was that they just kinda smiled and waved and skipped off holding hands…**

**R4L: I can't figure out whether to be insulted by that or jealous that you dreamed about Zack and his gorgeousness or horrified at the image.**

**Ultimate: Well, we owned them for the time being, anyway. Now you have a disclaimer…**

**A/N: And, yes, this actually happened. (Check out UltimateFreedom's profile/story, she writes for Darkest Powers and um she's AwEsOmE!) So I seem to have lapsed back into my originally traditional 2,000 words, hope you enjoy them all…****be prepared for angst**** and some other…*shutting up now*. And Diana has a theme song for this chapter, I was thinking of Behind These Hazel Eyes by Kelly Clarkson, and yes I'm aware that this is an overworked song but whatever. Just think of it in a brotherly-sisterly way not so much boyfriend-girlfriend, and given the situation I think it makes sense. Anyhow. Proceed, please :)**

**Chapter 10**

"I'm starting to think that all this is getting to me." Diana was sitting on her bed after dinner that night, temporarily back in her girl clothes.

Tifa came over and folded herself into a pretzel opposite her. "All what?"

"This." She waved a hand around the room and at herself.

Oh. That this. Tifa's mouth tightened slightly in response.

"The faking…it's staring to get to me. I mean, come on—I wasn't born an actress! It's not like I'm enjoying living a lie." Diana snorted, glaring at her surroundings from under hooded eyes.

Tifa could recognize the warning signs of a breakdown well enough. "I can't imagine how it is for you, but you know I'm here, right? And Cloud." She used the voice she might when she was taking care of Marlene for Barrett. The older sister voice, to reassure and calm and rationalize.

"But…I haven't even told you everything…" She fairly whimpered apologetically, her armor cracking slightly.

"It doesn't matter." Tifa shook her head serenely. "Why is it so hard to accept that people want to do things for you, to help you?"

"Because…I don't deserve it…I'm lying to everyone…" If Diana had been someone else, she might well have been on the verge of tears. But this was hard-shelled and hard-cored, stubborn Diana.

"So that you can hand their asses to them later!" Tifa put her hand down forcefully, temporarily abandoning her mildness. "Remember why you're doing this," she said more gently. "Remember your dreams."

Diana looked up hopelessly. "Whose," she stated blandly. "Mine, or Devon's?"

Tifa drew back slightly. Now, here was a proper conundrum. Hers as herself, versus hers as pretending to be her brother? Or literally her brother's, who was dead now and she was trying to live for? Had they had the same dreams, when it all came down to it? Or had she just…taken it all on herself? Tifa made a decision. She grabbed her friend's hand and dragged her off the bed, across the room, and into the bathroom. Turning her to face the lit mirror, she kept a steadying hold on her shoulders.

"What do you see." It was a statement, with an answer that no one even knew the real answer to.

Diana refused to even meet her own eyes in the mirror, scanning the rest of herself instead. Who could ever say what they saw about themselves in the mirror? Who could tell the truth? But then again, who could lie? And who could tell the difference?

"I see a skinny little nobody, with no face to go with no name, who's had to deceive everyone she loves at one time or another." It was true. "And who fails to protect those people from anything else all the same."

"Really?" Tifa said after a pause. "Is that what you see? If that's it, then how can you hope for anything?"

She got silence.

"Well, I'll tell you what I see, then. I see a strong, stubborn-minded somebody, who can't seem to stop proving herself deserving to be here and to have people who she cares about and who care about her. Who doesn't like it, but has to find a way to do what she wants just because she can, who defies the odds. Who doesn't hesitate to protect her loved ones at any cost." She stopped. Diana's eyes were clouding over slightly as she raised them just a little bit, and they were violet colored, turning a very little bit more blue by the second.

Her overall mood hadn't improved much, but Tifa sure did have a way with words. Her vision cleared where it was been blurring oddly and hazing a little, enough so that when she faced her reflection her attention was immediately drawn to the fact that something was wrong. She eventually zoned in on her own eyes and was vaguely taken aback by the unusual color that had decided to reside there. Oh, well. Who cared, anyway. She was a freak. She glanced away in renewed contempt.

Wait… She looked back to herself. The eyes – she didn't even want to say her eyes – looked a little familiar, but like they'd been put in the wrong face. It hit her in a second.

Zack? That was Zack's striking indigo color, right there! She woke up from her misery a little more and leaned in to peer at herself. Wow. Yep, that was definitely a color she hadn't seen before. How cool… She suddenly reeled back from the mirror again, almost smacking into Tifa, who was becoming more hopeful that her friend was rising out of her sulking.

A freak. That was all she was. Who the hell in their right state of… of being had eyes that snapped through the color spectrum nonstop with no predictable pattern in sight? She stared in disgust at her temporarily pin-straight hair. Another stupid reminder. Why was she this way? She didn't like it anymore. She was sick of it. And she felt a true, deep hate for the people who had had such a 'brilliant' idea to experiment on human children in the first place. In fact, she realized that she had never actually hated anyone, or anything, for real. Sure, she had passing dislikes, like all people, but this was bone-deep (quite literally), rage-fueled, fully justified hate.

"I'm a freak," she said quietly, her expression becoming an odd combination of grieving and wrathful. The longer she looked, the more her own image caused her to feel flat-out abhorrence.

And then she blinked and she swore she saw someone else in the place of her reflection.

He was looking back out of the mirror with sad violet eyes. It was only for a millisecond of a millisecond, but she would later swear that she saw his face there. Devon looked very similar to her, but it was impossible to confuse him with her own reflection. There was also no scar on his right cheekbone like the one that raked across hers. He was smiling gently, like he knew something that he knew she would have to find out for herself soon.

Maybe it was just her imagination, or maybe she was just going schizo (not such an unlikely possibility), but she thought she heard a few sentences flicker around her ears in the same fraction of time as when she thought she saw him.

"Don't give up.

You know more than you think.

Go live your dreams, and don't ever let go of them."

The dilated lilac eyes shone for one last time.

Tifa gave a start when Diana's entire body jerked, then froze. The only reason Tifa could break her friend's fall into unconsciousness two seconds later was because of her quick reflexes.

This was rather troublesome. Why had she suddenly fainted? She wasn't the type to do that. What was Tifa supposed to do now? Diana was acting pretty self-hating right now, and it made Tifa nervous as to what she might do. Maybe run away, and how would she survive? She wouldn't go home…would she? And she certainly didn't want her taking the elevator down to the labs in a destructive state of mind and setting off some impressive and no doubt gratifying explosions…to get kicked out of the entire Shinra corporation forever. Great. No.

Tifa had always been one for logic. So she slung the girl over her shoulders and calmly exited the dorm. Leaving her here asleep would just be asking for trouble, and besides, what if someone walked in while she was still dressed like a girl? Tifa navigated the twists and turns of halls and stairs almost silently, finally reaching her own rooms in a separate building. She didn't mind sleeping on the couch.

Tifa looked up in surprise when there was an incessant knocking on her door the next morning. "Coming," she called, dumping her dishes in the sink and drying her hands on a red dishtowel. The knocks turned to louder thuds in response. She rolled her eyes. Watch it be a hungover redheaded Turk desperate for something or other from the bar to alleviate the headache. "Coming, I'm coming, keep your pants on — Zack?"

Zack stood in the doorway, looking a little anxious. That was weird. Zack never got anxious, only when there was a serious prospect of him getting completely ratted out to the Director for something stupid. Hysterical, but stupid.

"Have you seen Devon?" he asked, his voice betraying his worry.

Oh. Duh. His friend was missing. Um, sure, she's just in the back room. But don't worry; she won't be more than a few minutes! Right. But how was she supposed to explain the disappearance of Devon? Wait…why not stick as close to the truth as was possible? "Actually… Well, what gives?" And why not stall while considering how to manipulate said truth?

Zack shook his head briefly. "Cloud says he never went back to the dorm after dinner last night. Well, Devon said that was what he was doing, but apparently he didn't, cause he hasn't shown. This was the next place I could think of…he already missed breakfast." He ran a hand through his hair, the spikes springing back up again stubbornly.

Tifa was suddenly struck by a *plan*. A smart way to get Diana out of this alive, and also something else… A stupid plan, but a funny plan. A genius plan. "That's weird. Because I was hanging out with Dev last night in the dorm when he wasn't feeling good, and he just went and passed out." She frowned. "Brought him back here but I woke up and he was…well, nowhere. But, also, as a matter of fact, I have seen his sister…"

Zack looked up quickly. "You know Diana?" he blurted. Oops… Didn't mean for that to come out, there.

"You know Diana?" she asked amusedly.

"I – uh – I met her a couple weeks ago at that party. She – we – um, we talked –" Jeez, he was just digging a hole deeper and deeper for himself. Way to completely stutter and make it all seem more serious than it is.

"I see," Tifa resisted the urge to smirk in satisfaction. "I found her wandering around lost about a week ago, looking for Devon. She somehow heard he was in the hospital, but apparently just wanted to make sure he was okay, not actually talk to him…" She shook her head. "It was weird. But anyway, as a matter of fact, she's just in the back room. Showed up looking for directions again, completely exhausted, and had nowhere to stay, so I slept on the couch."

His eyes visibly lit up. "Really? Is she – I mean – can I talk to her, do you think?"

Tifa had to keep from squealing in triumph, something rather unlike her but almost necessary all the same. Goddess, he just got all shy all of a sudden, like a kid or something! And he actually stammered when talking about her? Hm. Interesting, she mused.

"I'm sure she's awake by now. Go see if you want, I gotta do the dishes," she made a face. Housework. Ugh. Oh well. It wasn't like she'd be concentrating on it, not with valuable events going on in the next room!

"Why do you keep it so freezing in here? Mountain girl," Zack complained, pulling up the hood of his sweatshirt, partially to change the subject that so far was only serving to embarrass him in conversation. He uneasily edged toward the door, which was closed but not quite shut all the way. It opened soundlessly, as to be expected of property of Tifa. He stood, uncharacteristically awkward, for a moment, contemplating what he assumed to be the sleeping figure under the heap of covers on Tifa's bed. Was she just waking up, muddled from sleep and unaware of where she was? Was she still deep in that deep, dark abyss of the sleep of the exhausted?

He crept silently toward her, not wanting to wake the girl regardless. Maybe just to see her, to prove that he hadn't dreamed up their entire meeting. Maybe just to verify what she looked like versus how he remembered her.

What he didn't notice was the dark figure that flew at him from the corner, until it was too late.

**A/N: Yeah, so I'm a sucker for cliffhangers. (And guys with dark hair and blue eyes but that's not particularly relevant at the moment.) What can I say. Don't kill me; we all know Zack can't die even taken by surprise… Oh and is anyone picking up on the fact that her eyes are no longer simply going between green and gray? Hm…que interesante, no? What can this mean for her?… Haha so review please, come on let's get that review number up to forty! At least! Thanks so much for reading :)**


	11. Not So Powerless

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Oh how I wish I owned this if only for the sake of being in Diana's place…however I ****do**** own her as my OC and the situation as out of my own head :)**

**A/N: Tek and Ultimate, you guys will laaaaugh at this one seeing as how you read February Breath…you'll see why, lol. Lotsa Zack stuff this chapter, and next chapter we have a major Genesis encounter XD so keep reading :) Enjoy the ride.**

**Chapter 11: Not So Powerless**

Whoever tackled him was several inches shorter but surprisingly solid.

What the hell? Did Tifa know there was a freaking ninja wannabe in her room? What had the person done with Diana, if anything? She was right over there, sleeping…right? Betrayal by Tifa was completely out of the question, hardly even qualifying as a passing speculation. Who would want to assassinate Zack, anyway? Better yet, who would send this kid – it had to be a teenager – after him?

He stumbled but didn't fall, trying to turn to face his attacker, but the kid had already darted around his other side and was about to deliver a kick to his side. Zack blocked it with next to no expenditure of effort, only to receive a sharp jab to his right kidney.

Ouch! Jeez! Was the kid made of iron with a human shell or something? No teenager inflicted that much pain on a first class! Sure, it was barely anything, but it was definitely something, and that was something to worry about. Which made total sense. Okay. You wanna play that game? He grabbed the offending arm and twisted, not very hard for him, but plenty enough to send his opponent crashing to the floor. He was surprised again when the kid's leg came up and used Zack's momentum to send him all the way over in a flip to land in a similar way. In another fraction of a second, his attacker was up and down again, sitting on Zack's back. It was a tribute to Zack when he didn't blink when a switchblade was flicked open at his throat, despite his mild shock at the aptitude of his opponent. He didn't want to resort to drastic measures, but this kid was obviously not ordinary. Okay, fine. Here we go… The hood of his sweatshirt slipped off over his spikes when he moved slightly and he heard a stifled gasp from the kid with the knife.

Tifa had heard the crash of a falling body and rushed in alarm to her room. Had the girl taken out a window or something? What else could go wrong…around…here…?

"Erm, on second thought, maybe I'll be leaving now…" One corner of her mouth twitched slightly in amusement.

"Ohmygoddess!" Diana squeaked under her breath. "Zack?"

"That would be me," came the muffled, bemused reply.

She hastily snapped the switchblade closed and leaped off him even quicker. Whoooo, can we say WEIRD! "I'm so sorry! You had your hood up, and…" she trailed off lamely. Why hadn't she recognized him? Wait a sec… "Where are we?"

"Tifa's apartment – is that you, Diana?"

She jumped a little when he got up and faced her. "…Hey there."

"Di, what'd you do?" Tifa sighed, leaning against the doorframe.

She bristled. "Well, I didn't know where I was when I woke up, with no memory of how I got here, and then I heard voices so, I dunno, I got a little paranoid? Then someone comes in dressed in black with his hood up – I wasn't going to be stupid and take the chance of them not being on the friendly side!"

"You are getting paranoid, aren't you?" Tifa rolled her eyes.

"No, I see your point," Zack spoke up again. "Good to see you again, all the same." A cocky smile flashed across his face.

"Same to you, out of the hospital, I understand?" She planted her hands on her hips. "What did you do?"

"Er. Well, it's a long story, really, um… It wasn't my fault, really…" It was his turn to fade off vaguely. "The bright side is, I'm fine and I wouldn't be if not for…well, guess who?" He teased.

She grimaced inwardly. She sure set herself up for that one and she had little desire to hear the story of his rescue again. "…Cloud."

"Nope."

"Tifa."

"Not this time."

"Huh? Um," she had to be careful in how much she was supposed to know, "Sephiroth."

"Nooo…"

"I give up," she said in a grudging monotone.

"Really? You?"

"Yes, very funny, get on with it," she blew a piece of hair out of her eyes and made a joking face at him.

"Your brother."

"Really now," she said dryly. She really had to work on the 'surprised face.'

"What, no reaction?" he pouted.

"He always was throwing himself out there for other people's sakes," Diana responded truthfully.

"Well, it was pretty damn stupid of him all the same," he turned brooding all of a sudden.

She punched him lightly on the arm. "Don't say that! You wouldn't be here!"

"Under the circumstances—"

"No excuses from you!"

"But—"

"—Don't!"

"Then—"

"—None!"

Tifa rolled her eyes. Hell, they might as well be an old married couple already…

A sly smile made an appearance on his angular face. "Then I'm to understand you'd miss me that much?"

"Well – yeah! Seriously! I mean…" she found herself trying not to turn pink. Great. Just great. What was wrong with her? Snap out of it!

"Mmmmmm-hm. I have to say, though," he laughed, "I don't doubt you can handle yourself, either."

She laughed nervously. "Yeah… Sorry about that… I just…"

"I'd rather you be able to defend yourself than be totally helpless." She was definitely no damsel in distress. Well, maybe a damsel, but evidently not in distress for long if she could help it. Zack found himself liking it. She was the total opposite of the stereotypical frail blonde type who squealed at just about everything that moved.

He would rather? He considered it? He thinks about me? No, stoppit, stupid mind! SHUT UP!

"Well now, you two can have a lovely chat in here while I just…" Tifa swiftly vacated the premises and slammed the door behind her.

The two blinked, then looked at each other. "Um—" they both began.

"Gotta run," Diana said apologetically. "Really." She bit her lip, her green eyes getting bigger.

"Same here. Um, before you leave – do you want to, maybe, I don't know, meet up again? Sometime?" He was oddly nervous, again. He shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I…I'd like that," she hesitated slightly, then smiled. "Yeah. I'd like that a lot."

"Really?" he grinned.

"Absolutely."

"Great! I'll find you…"

"I'll be here at Tifa's at six on Friday."

"Cool. Sounds good." He wasn't going to pry as to what she was doing or anything else here. He was going with it. Cause, hell, he had a sort-of date on Friday!

"Th—" she stopped, jiggling the doorknob. Definitely locked. "Tifa…." She growled.

Zack frowned and tried the door too. "Tifa!" he hollered through it.

"Hm? Voices? What's that? Oh well. I'll just have to leave now and—" They heard Tifa's infuriatingly cheerful voice coming from the kitchen.

"Tifa! If you don't open this door I'll…uh…" Zack searched for a threat that would actually work on his friend. It was just plain sad that none came to mind.

"I'll kick it down! You know I can and will!" Diana yelled. Zack looked at her in mild surprise. "What?" He just shook his head smiling in response. What a funny girl. First being followed by him at a party and been chill about it, maybe even liking it, then jumping him without him noticing, now offering to kick down doors. Unique.

Diana was continuing when she got no reply. "I can easily frame you for something dumb and you'll have to pay for it and then you'll end up having a lovely chat with the Director who will later take you to Shinra himself and you're going to go broke between the door and food and you'll be a hobo living under the plate in an abandoned church in Sector Five forced to live off of—"

"Okay okay okay, enough! I'm working on it!" Tifa yelled back. Diana grinned in triumph. Zack gave her one of those 'was that even English' looks and she shrugged. Tifa finally (and grudgingly) unlocked the door.

"Ta-dah," Diana laughed. She let Zack walk ahead of her as she paused to grab her jacket from where it was hanging on a chair in Tifa's room. Upon emerging, she remembered something kind of important. "Hey, Za—"

And Tifa had artfully tripped her just as the addressed turned back around. She lurched forward, expecting to go splat, but was instead stopped by two muscular arms. She looked up at the face of the man to whom the arms belonged.

"Thanks," she whispered almost inaudibly. Oops.

"Careful," Zack breathed down at her, the infuriating half-smile making another gradual appearance.

Tifa watched in knowing satisfaction as the two spent another couple of seconds staring at each other. Zack started out looking a little surprised, then his blue spotlight gaze turned to one of an unexpected but easily won victory. Tifa was amused to see that Diana was struck into simply staring in fascination. Of course, it was a masked emotion that was hard for even Tifa to pick up on, but Zack no doubt saw through her defenses as well. Tifa couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The poor girl could barely express herself properly anymore. Still, it was entertaining to survey her handiwork taking effect between the two.

Diana ducked her head and leveled her balance again. She half-cleared her throat. "I was going to ask you who you were really looking for here. I heard some of the conversation."

"Oh. Yeah, um," he turned his head and ran a hand through his hair again, his earring catching the light. "A certain Devon Loveless seems to have pulled a Houdini. Tifa says he wasn't feeling good and passed out in the dorm last night, Tifa brought him here but he's currently M.I.A. Well, okay, maybe not the A. Or the I.A. for that matter. But definitely the M," he considered thoughtfully.

She drew on her 'surprised face' again. "Really. Well, he'll turn up. That's not much of a shocker. But I hope he's okay…"

"Hm. Figures. He'll be more than okay. Well, anyways he's about to be late for training—" he yelped, catching sight of the clock above the stove, "—and so am I! Angeal will kill me…I'll catch you later!" He flashed them a white smile and winked at Diana as he disappeared out the door.

Tifa looked at her friend, who seemed to have just come out of a little reverie and was now glaring fiercely. "What! Hey, I'm just speeding up the process of the inevita—"

"What process?" she fairly screeched. "Whatever! Never mind! See you – you heard Zack, I'm dead!" she pelted out the door, clutching her jacket and sticking her tongue out in farewell.

As she tore through the corridors and to the open air outside, muttering darkly about the horribleness of the old tripping trick, she realized that she had no idea where she was going. Damn, trust her to spend the time she was supposed to be learning her way around attending to…other matters. Humph. None of the rest of them had any excuse, none at all…

Well, whatever the case, she felt oddly exposed out here in the open in her feminine altogether, but it wasn't like there were any public bathrooms around. She looked around absently for a hidden space to…ah. She melted into the shadows behind a convenient stack of crates. Wait…too convenient. Ah, hell, she knew where she was. This was the courtyard, and that was the corridor, and there was the hall used for parties. Beyond it was a way back to the dorms. Huh. Well, there ya go. However, that didn't mean she felt okay wandering around unprotected. Yeah, as Tifa would say, you can easily just beat the crap out of someone; you're not totally defenseless, et cetera. Right now she didn't feel like listening to Tifa. Not like she was legitimately mad at her, she thought as she extracted various items from the many pockets of her ever-present jacket. Just temporarily grumpy. She was still her best friend, and best friends had to totally screw over each other's life events once in a while, right?

She strapped a knife to the side of her lower shin. Well, maybe not screw over. Maybe falling into Zack's arms wasn't so bad after a— Nope. End of story. She had to stop that thought before it went (inappropriately) further. Shut up, now, she thought fiercely to the little uncontrollably irritating voices echoing around inescapably in her head. I am NOT going to make my life awkward and suckish! I have enough to deal with! She whipped her belt off and back on (with a few additions in the form of throwing stars) with a little more force than was necessary. I am here to… Oh…right. The events of last night came back to her, not because she had forgotten, but because she had had no reason to think about them yet. She ran through the conversation, the motions, the sights, all over again in her head.

The hallucinations. Had they been hallucinations? Attacks of schizophrenia spurred by emotional and physical trauma? Seriously. Who in their right mind had visions of their dead twin brother in the mirror and hallucinations of his voice?

She thought over what he had said again as she secured an undersized handgun to the small of her back. Reflecting, she realized something…

Yes, she was a freak. Yes, she was a liar. Yes, she was in pain.

But you know what?

I'm a damn cool freak.

I'm lying to protect myself and I'll tell the truth someday after all.

I know pain's affected me and there will be more to come, but I don't care until then.

I'll live it up. I'm sure as hell gonna be all that I am until then and nothing and no one's going to stop me. I've been waiting for a time to show myself all along... But you know, I don't care that I can't truly be myself quite yet – this is my time now. It's gonna have to be.

Diana yanked on her favorite black gloves and clenched her fists. Well, I'm out of the shadows now… She chuckled quietly to herself.

She had just found her reconciliation and wasn't entirely convinced that seeing her brother (or hallucinating, or whatever) had nothing to do with that.

A/N: Yay for ix-nay on the depressing and self-deprecating thoughts :D And yay for Zack! Don't we all just want one? *sigh* All right. Serious business here. Now I've been getting a couple emails a day about people putting this on their Story Alert or occasionally favoriting it (!) Yet somehow there are no where near as many reviews as alerts I get. Just move the mouse a few inches to the right instead… Of course I love knowing you're all keeping tabs on my progress but it's the reviews that show that when it all comes down to it so just saying that's a little helpful that way :) Thanks for reading, especially my little spiel, hope you're enjoying the ride :) 


	12. Closet Issues

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: As UltimateFreedom and I watch ridiculous videos of Zack Fair's job at Burger King, we come to realize how depressing it is that I do not own FFVII myself. Or Dane Cook's comedies. But that's another story entirely.**

**A/N: As promised, we have the Genesis encounter! XD Let me know how you like it and I'm going to shut up now so I don't give anything away cause I have too big a mouth.**

**Chapter 12: Closet Issues**

A few minutes later, she was tiptoeing through a large open area, trying to be stealthy and inconspicuous and feeling like an idiot. Then the sound of a pair of frantically running feet reached her ears and she stopped motionless in place, pinpointing the place of origin. …There. And a few seconds later, a man came pounding around the corner looking terrified out of his wits. He kept glancing behind him fearfully.

Diana squinted to see his face. Oh, shit on a sandwich with a side of pickles. She'd recognize that overkill of red leather anywhere. It was none other than Pimp-Master Genesis Rhapsodos. Fantastic. This was all she needed.

Then it occurred to her that Genesis, a first class and competitor and friend to Sephiroth and Angeal, was running and looking scared. Uh-oh. Big uh-oh.

When he saw her, statue-like, in the middle of the yard, he skidded to a halt and he if possible looked more afraid. What the hell? She wasn't scary, especially in comparison to whatever must be chasing him! This dude was so weird.

She then picked up on another noise, coming from the direction Genesis had. It sounded like screaming… Oh, jeez, was there a break-in? Something to scare Genesis like this must be ridiculously…

Genesis took another horrified look behind him and took off toward Diana again, apparently judging her as the lesser of the two evils. "Run!" he roared, ignoring the fact that he didn't' know this chick.

"What in the name of all that's holy do you mean run?" she screeched back indignantly as he approached fast.

"You don't wanna know!" He made a grab for her arm, spinning her around one hundred and eighty degrees, and she took off after him.

"Is there a problem? What happened!" she yelled at him. He obviously didn't care how he was addressed at this point, and frankly, neither did she.

"No problem! No problem at all! Just the prospect of imminent death on my part!"

"Please, enlighten me."

"I hate these people!"

"Spit it out, loser."

"…Ex-girlfriends!"

She stopped short, staring for a second before nearly collapsing in laughter. "Ex – excuse me?" she panted.

"Hurry, hurry up, here they come. Oh, Goddess!" he looked behind her in horror.

Diana followed the look. It seemed that there was a mass of screaming girls all in their early to mid twenties emerging from around the corner. Oh daaaamn. This would be something. Sucked for him! And her…considering she was now on the run with Genesis. "Time to go," she commented mildly. Yes, they were facing imminent death via Genesis' apparent hate club. But oh well. The priority right now?

"This way!"

"No, not that way!" she yelled. "That goes to my brother's dorm!" She looked appropriately horrified. She hoped.

"What?" He skidded to a near stop. Tossing his head at her stubborn expression, he followed her.

A moment later he stopped fast, having passed her, and Diana crashed into his back. "Well, 'scuse me if I don't' have superSOLDIER reflexes," she grumbled.

He looked mildly annoyed. "Really now. Anyone should be able to—"

"Boo frickety hoo," she cut him off. "Dead end? Really?" she peered around him at what appeared to be just that, except for two closed doors.

Genesis' eyes widened in affirmation, then he glanced back down the loooong passageway they'd just come down, at the end of which was approaching a crowd of running feet and high-pitched squeals. "Shit." He flicked a sea-colored gaze at her. "Uh, I mean…"

"Save it. Where does this go?" She briskly stepped around him and yanked on the first door handle. Locked. She just wanted to be free of this moron so she could go change and not get completely chewed out by Angeal! The army didn't like lateness… She grabbed at the second door and the knob turned. The door opened to reveal… A janitor's closet? How anticlimactic.

"Get in!" she hissed. "I'll go distract them…"

"No, I'll go distract them!"

"What is it with you SOLDIERs and your altruistic suicide?" she shoved him in the door as Genesis protested as loudly as he dared. Unfortunately, that included her getting yanked into the closet as well.

After a few seconds of stifling darkness with their breathing as the only sound besides a faint beeping that Diana assumed to be an air conditioner or something behind them, Genesis thought of something. "Suppose the door isn't still unlocked when we…" he trailed off.

She turned to give him a great sarcastic look that was, sadly, lost on the dark of the confined space. "Seriously? You are going to let a locked door get in your way?"

"Well – no! I just—" his face heated slightly and uncharacteristically, which, thankfully, she couldn't see either. "I never caught your name," he recovered swiftly.

"Diana. Not telling you the last name, for reasons. You're Genesis Rhapsodos, SOLDIER first class, no need for an intro. Now don't let it go to your head."

He grinned. "Okay then, Diana no-last-name. While we're stuck here in this lovely closet, I'd like to ask you a few…"

"Oh please, spare me the torture." She rolled her eyes, ignoring the fact that he was inching closer to her flirtatiously. Jeez. Could this get any weirder? She could honestly say that when she woke up that morning, unaware of where she was or how she got there, she certainly had not expected to end up later hiding in a closet with Genesis Rhapsodos.

"Why torture? The greatest things can happen in the dar—"

"Shush! There's someone out there…a male… Listen, your hearing's better than mine." She seized the opportunity to edge away from him. And besides, she didn't recognize the voice that she could hear among the incessant giggling that was drawing closer. Just another SOLDIER out for a walk…during training hours? Somehow, she didn't think so.

Genesis related to her, "'Who are you looking for?' 'Genesis Rhapsodos,'" in a deep voice, then a high one, laced with contempt.

Diana frowned. Airheads.

"'Why don't you try down here?'" The deep voice. "More mad laughter…oh, here they come," he nearly whimpered.

"Who's the guy? Does he know where we are?" Diana breathed.

"Don't know." The auburn-haired man became concerned. "And…where's the volcano?"

She gave him an odd look and poked his arm to let him know she thought he might be going legitimately insane. From what little colorless shape she could see of his face, all joking was gone and he was entirely serious. "Volcano…?" she prompted him.

"Yeah. Sulfur… Oh, shit! Bomb!" he roared suddenly, swiftly giving the door a powerful kick and throwing Diana back out into the corridor with him. The beeping, she noted in the back of her mind: the part that wasn't concentrating on hurling herself to the ground and covering her head as pieces of shrapnel whizzed past. A few seconds later, her ears were ringing and she noticed dazedly that Genesis had flung her up against the wall and braced himself over her in what she assumed to be protection. Huh.

Through the buzzing and ringing in her ears, she tried to stagger to her feet but mostly failed, slumping against the wall. Genesis was faring much better. Stupid mako. At least all those girls were gone, having run away, she thought. However, through the debris in the air, a man was approaching. Our mystery guest, she thought grimly. At least the bomb was small and very easily contained. It had been only for the purpose of blowing the two of them up…she meant Genesis. And who would want one of the most famous Shinra SOLDIER first classes dead? Gee, let's think. The emperor of Wutai, perhaps?

Sure enough, the tall man striding towards them was distinctly Wutain. He tsked softly, contemptuously. "What a shame."

"Yes, isn't it, though," Genesis commented airily, as though talking about the weather.

"Hmm. And isn't it a shame you couldn't have left your girlfriend out of it. Too bad. She's a cute one."

Diana was sure that her hair stood up at this. Forget the girlfriend misconception – or the ridiculous notion that she was 'cute' – she just wanted out of here fast and preferably without a fight. Keep him talking, she silently willed her companion.

"I'm glad we're of an accord on those points," Genesis continued. What points? Diana thought indignantly, while at the same time casually hooking her thumbs into her belt in the back. Just in case.

"Then why don't we just settle this the traditional way?" The Wutain soldier pulled a long, thin, very sharp-looking curved sword from his back. Uh-oh. Genesis did likewise, with his elegant, red-tinged weapon. A breeze lifted the hem of his red leather coat slightly. What was this, a bad teenage rewrite of a bad slasher film? Nope, because in a bad rewrite of a bad movie, the leading heroine would stand by dumbly: hysterical and useless.

The other soldier lifted his sword arm swiftly and Diana whipped her right hand out of her belt, bringing a throwing star with it. It chopped into the arm with a small spray of blood, and the soldier yelped in pain and confusion. It would have given Genesis the opening he needed, but Diana wanted to be a little more useful here. She approached him head-on with three quick strides and without stutter-stepping snapped a kick into the center of his chest. His breath caught and he looked more than a little surprised as she drove a fist up and into his stomach.

In a second he had gathered his wits, however, and apparently decided to fight back no matter who was attacking him. He slammed his head – his only usable weapon at the moment, apparently – into hers, making her see a little starburst, but he had leaned over too far to compensate for her smaller stature. She was able to grab the back of his coat and hung on like a bird of prey when his head snapped back again in an attempt to throw her off him, but it only sent her light weight flying over him to slam a foot into the small of his back. He yelled again in anger and she threw the rest of the force of her smaller body into the area between his shoulder blades, sending him over as she locked his feet together with one sweep around his ankles.

Kneeling on his back, she kept a tight chokehold on him for a moment. She gave him a few seconds to collect his thoughts, but not too long. "Now. You're going to answer a couple of questions for me. Firstly: have you ever been to the northern continent?" He was Wutain. It was an opportunity for some personal information and answers. She took it.

He gurgled and she let off just a little bit. "No," he gasped. Hm. How boring.

"Do you know of any who have?" she continued.

He shook his head, gasping for air. She released a little more. Couldn't have him passing out on her.

"That's too bad. Now if you would kindly tell me why you were here."

He remained mute. That is, until he heard the cock of a handgun by his ear. Diana had pulled it out and spun it once in her hand without changing her grip.

Genesis was trying hard not to stare. He really was. But what else the hell was he supposed to do when a slender, seemingly harmless girl attacked a soldier out of the blue, had him down in a matter of seconds, and was threatening him with weapons she'd pulled from Goddess-knows-where? He surreptitiously leaned back a little to see how she possibly could have pulled that thing from somewhere behind her back and failed.

"To plant the bomb for…?" she was prodding the soldier. He made a little indecisive noise. "Ahh," she suddenly nodded. "I see. You don't think I'll do it. Would you rather he be in my place?" She didn't need to specify the 'he.' "Because that can easily be arranged…" she murmured. Genesis had gathered his wits enough to turn his long sword in the light, making it flash dangerously with an odd reddish light.

The soldier's eyes widened a little. "I was just supposed to make sure it got you," he blurted.

"Just him?" Diana indicated Genesis again.

"Yes."

"And others later?"

"Just two more of the high-ranking ones, that was all they told—" His mouth clamped shut again.

"Oh really? Who was the other one? An…Al…" she suggested.

"Two," he corrected her without thinking, "Angel, I think?" he made a face, then remembered himself and looking vaguely horrified at the information he had just spilled.

"I see," she murmured in satisfaction. Angeal. That left the remaining target as obvious. "Sephiroth would be the other."

"No," he denied too quickly. She smirked from her upper-hand position. The Wutain army needed some help in training their men to be immune to simple interrogations. Not to mention effective lying. She could help them there, she grinned secretively. Then again, maybe they just got lucky with facing this one.

"Why take out the Fantastic Threesome?" she mused to no one in particular, extracting a response from Genesis himself.

"Gee, let's think. The three most famous first classes? A straight-up, to-the-point move. Take out the best."

"I believe I was addressing you and not your ego, Commander," she snorted. "But point taken." She reached back into the side of her right boot and produced a roll of cord. "I'm sure you can more than handle this. I've got places to be. Nice seeing you, Genesis." She stood smoothly, tossing the cord to the auburn-haired man. The Wutai soldier didn't so much as twitch a muscle. "Oh, and by the way…" she turned back to him halfway as she made to walk off, "The last name is Loveless. See you around." Ha. That was his punishment for dragging her into this! She strode coolly off and broke into a jog once she could, easily navigating back into the dorm building and to her rooms.

As she redressed, she thought of what had happened last night to cause her to pass out. It wasn't like she'd forgotten until now – she'd just had more pressing matters on her mind. A vivid image in her head was of her eyes when they'd looked like Zack's. Zack's eyes…she would have woken up to them this morning had she not woken up and gone all paranoid and gone on to attack him. Somehow she felt like that might not be so bad, to have the first thing she saw in the morning be Zack… Don't be ridiculous! Her mind chided her. Well. Still. He had pretty eyes. The rest of him was rather pretty, too, but she wasn't going to let herself think any further in that direction.

She whimpered quietly, realizing how late she was. A good forty-five minutes…Angeal would kill her…

By the time she figured which the hell training yard she was supposed to be in, Angeal appeared to have been expecting her. He glared as she approached sheepishly.

"You, Devon Loveless, sir, are going—" He stopped and whipped out his buzzing cell phone, swearing like a, well, like a soldier. A confused look overcame him for a second, then he made to pick up, giving Devon a warning look to say that the cadet wasn't going anywhere soon. "Genesis?"

Diana blinked. That could only mean one thing. Genesis was telling Angeal about the enemy soldier who had somehow gotten in. Wow. That really was kind of an issue, wasn't it? A soldier just waltzing right into the headquarters of the enemy nation's army—

A string of unintelligible expletives flashed through her mind as she realized something and she froze briefly before remembering to keep her cool. She linked her hands patiently behind her back to keep from shaking and noticed that Cloud had edged up beside her.

"Where were you?" he muttered.

"I'll explain later. I've got a lot to explain later, actually. Get Tifa to come to our room later, and make sure Max and Shane don't make an unexpected appearance meanwhile. Capiche? I'm having an issue here…" she glanced at Angeal, who had turned halfway from her and was deep in worried conversation.

"Will do. What's the current issue? To do with that, I'm guessing." Cloud jerked his head at the commander, his spikes bobbling.

"Yeah. Again, part of the explaining, but the short version is that Genesis and Diana," she stressed quietly, "encountered a Wutai soldier on the way here. Nothing in his way. Just walking around. We, er, I took him down of course, but that's a serious security problem."

"No kidding," he agreed. "And ouch. Bet Genesis hardly has a soul left, after that with you," he chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She elbowed him.

"Ah, nothing… Figures that they've got their heads all in a twist now, though." He reverted back to the more pressing topic. "To get in that easily, you'd practically need someone on the in…side…" He trailed off in horror at the knowing look she was giving him. "My Goddess. Do you know who might…?" He almost didn't want to even know.

"Dunno, actually. But what I do know is that Devon just showed up after a night of being missing, coming to training out of breath, and it's only a single minute later that the commanding officer receives a call saying there was a break-in during sometime that Devon happened to be missing."

His eyes grew more orb-like. "Holy hell. That's…really not good. Dude, your luck sucks," he concluded.

She nodded slowly, grimly. "And just for kicks, to complicate things, Diana was the one who took out the soldier and is now going to be nowhere to be seen or found for a little while. Fantastic. Not to mention that a certain Zack Fair ended up encountering Diana this morning whilst looking for Devon."

"Oh. Ohhh. Shit. Um…yeah," he said weakly. Just then Angeal snapped the phone shut and turned back to Devon, looking a little concerned.

Diana couldn't help but feel that he and Genesis had reached the same possibility about her disappearance as she had thought of. Oh, crap. Now what was her excuse?

"Loveless, you'd…better come along. No, not – well, on second thought, maybe you should come too, Strife."

Diana couldn't help but feel watched as well, as the three of them exited the training yard and made for the direction of the main building.

Three hundred yards, two elevators, and too many hallways later, they were in a conference room. Namely, the Director's conference room.

**A/N: So, this was slightly longer…funny, yes! Review please my lovely people! :)**


	13. Confusion and an Elevator

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I have one word to say: Fanfiction. Fiction. By fans. Say no more.**

**A/N: FIFTIETH REVIEW PARTY haha no not really but I just hafta say it sent me into one of my States of Excitement! And once I get into a State of Excitement, well, I get a little trigger-happy with the caps lock and the volume control on my iPod SO as I sit here at 11 p.m. blasting Breaking Benjamin into my head, I want to thank all my lovely reviewers and I hope you all feel very proud of yourselves 'cause YOU ARE SPECIAL!**

**Well, now that we've cleared up how amazing you are, I'm gonna warn you now: this chapter does get verrry precise with the little details and might just give you a headache 'cause it sure is giving me one. I tried to throw in some humor for ya in between the dialogue :) so enjoy and review :) And by the way, sorry for the few-days-late update, my Internet's been dying-slash-giving-out-randomly.**

**Chapter 13: Confusion and an Elevator**

Three hundred yards, two elevators, and too many hallways later, they were in a conference room. Namely, the Director's conference room.

"Director Lazard," Angeal greeted the blonde man formally. The Director had a square jaw, and glasses, and was wearing a navy suit.

"Commander. And two cadets, I presume," Lazard acknowledged them.

"Devon Loveless, sir." Diana shook his hand.

"Cloud Strife, sir." Cloud echoed her and did the same.

"Commander Rhapsodos is already present. Please, sit." Lazard stepped back and the three took seats around the round wooden table. He rubbed his temples. "Now, hopefully we can go about this like civilized men and – Fair?"

Diana had an opportunity to hide her reflexive almost-snicker out of bad habit at the word 'men' and was immediately distracted by the sight of Zack in the doorway.

"Er, sorry, I was told Angeal was here and…"

"Quite all right. You may as well stay. I understand you are well acquainted with these two, correct?" Lazard indicated Cloud and Devon, the latter smiling a little shakily. Zack grinned back at them, remembering his latest encounter with the other Loveless child and the grin spread wider.

"Yeah. What'd you do now, guys?" he joked. Sadly, it was bad timing, and sensing the mood, his brow creased and he took a chair. "What's up?"

Lazard sighed. "That's what we want to know. We want to deal with the facts here, as much as I hate formalities, and what we do know is more than slightly troubling in respect to our security.

"At zero eight hundred and forty-nine this morning, Commander Hewley received a call from Commander Rhapsodos claiming that he had a Wutai soldier detained near the cadet dorms. Genesis…would you care to explain?" The Director refrained from just keeling over and pretending to be unconscious. He really didn't want to deal with something this serious this early. Sure, he spoke with straitlaced authority. That didn't mean he wasn't mentally smashing a planning grid of the war repeatedly with a negotiations manual.

"Of course," Genesis said somewhat lazily, like he always sounded. "Previous to that I was being, er, chased down by a…" he got more than a little uncomfortable. "It was a hate club, okay?" He glared around the near-snickering table. The others could guess at the origin of said 'hate.' "Don't judge me. In the middle of that, I came across a girl, Diana Loveless," he flicked a glance at Devon, "and she appeared to be harmless and ended up following me. We came to a dead end and had to, ah, attempt to hide. In a closet…" he fidgeted again. Man, did that sound scandalous, even for him. "…I detected sulfur and a contained explosion occurred, however we escaped unharmed. When the dust cleared, there was a Wutain soldier standing there and I prepared myself to fight but the Loveless girl unexpectedly took action and he was, um, down."

Zack was barely able to keep a straight face. That was so like Diana! She must have just left Tifa's and had been wandering around, or something. But the closet… He suppressed an urge to growl. If Genesis had pulled anything funny, he was going to have to—

"She claimed she had places to be and walked off, I stayed to detain the soldier and called Angeal at, what was it, eight forty-nine? Whatever. But first the girl got some valuable information from the soldier. He was sent to make sure that that amateur assassination attempt found me, and later Angeal and Sephiroth were to be targeted. We couldn't get any more of an explanation out of him yet except that we're all SOLDIERs of the highest rank." He shrugged, his ego obviously blowing off the potential threat.

"…Slightly troubling." Lazard rubbed his chin. "Loveless… Do you have a sister?" he looked at Devon without turning his head.

"Yes sir. Twin."

Genesis, Cloud, and Zack all snorted simultaneously.

"Identical, do you suppose?"

"No kidding."

"Uhhhhh-huh."

"Identical?" the Director inquired out of sheer curiosity. "How does that come about?"

"To put it plainly, sir, my sister and I are the results of one of a certain Dr. Hojo's less formal experiments," Devon gritted his teeth.

"…I see." The Director now shifted his eyes to the boy. He couldn't repress the pity that he felt for the siblings. Hojo's death had been a relief to all who had found out about his illegal and immoral underground doings.

"But, if I might have a word, sir, I wasn't aware my sister was in the city," she tried to look appropriately confused. "In fact, I didn't know she was even on the continent…"

"Not on the continent?" Lazard noted. "In…Wutai, perhaps?"

Devon's head snapped up at this. What was he trying to imply! "No, never! She could never…no. Definitely not. And, to be frank, I don't think our parents would even allow her out of their sight for her to do something like that."

"I see. I meant no implications; we are just dealing with evidence here. No offense intended."

"None taken, sir." _What the hell was this, though? An elaborate court cross-examination?_

"If you could clarify, though, please, where you were this morning when you were supposed to be at the mess hall at zero seven hundred and thirty and the training yard at eight?" the Director artfully caught her slightly off-guard.

"Not to mention last night." Zack wasn't being particularly helpful, either.

"Last night, I… I can honestly say that I don't remember as much as I should, but from what Tifa said—"

"What's this about Miss Lockhart?" Lazard cut in, not missing a thing. For not wanting to be there, he sure was thorough.

"Yes, what about me?" The one and only waltzed in. "Thought I should give my testimony." She pulled out a chair by Cloud and touched his arm reassuringly.

Lazard blinked. "…Yes. Of course." He was somewhat used to Tifa's oddly timed entrances by now. He leaned back in his chair.

Diana went on with her pretty-much-improvised story, quickly praying that Tifa was paying very close attention in order to back her up. "Last night, Tifa and I were hanging out in the dorm when I got…what was it…a headache? It was awful. Then I felt sick to my stomach, I think, and I must have blacked out and fallen down," she made a face, as though she were insulted by her own implied weakness, "because I woke up on Tifa's couch and didn't know where I was, so I guess I kinda freaked," she laughed self-consciously, "and booked it out of there. Took me forever to find where I was going, and by then it was way into training time. Went back to the dorm, then found the training yard."

"Do you agree?" Lazard looked at Tifa.

"Yep!" she replied, balancing easily on the back legs of her chair. "Nothing but the truth, embarrassing though it may be." She grinned at Diana, who took the opportunity to duck her head sulkingly.

"All right then. Did anyone here besides Commander Rhapsodos see _Diana _Loveless this morning?" the Director continued in his businesslike manner.

Tifa and Zack both made noises of affirmation. Zack immediately got embarrassed and went into a forceful coughing fit almost literally trying to swallow his words. He had remembered too late that he wasn't supposed to know Devon's sister. Aw, man… Blew it now, genius, he thought wryly.

"See, that's the thing, sir," Tifa began concernedly. "After I took Dev somewhere I could keep an eye on him, I went out to see if I could maybe catch Cloud on the way back from the mess, but no such luck."

"You sure that's all you wanted to catch?" Genesis murmured scandalously.

At this, Cloud turned a faint, shy shade of pink around the ears, and Tifa glared at the offending First menacingly. "I did run into Diana, though. She was," she laughed slightly, "ridiculously lost."

Zack snorted involuntarily again, then resumed hem-ing and haw-ing in another lame cover-up attempt. Genesis glanced at his acquaintance with interest. The raven-haired knew more than he was letting on. How…interesting, Genesis thought as he continued to watch mutely. Zack was certainly hiding the extent of his acquaintance with the girl, probably out of respect to his friend who was the girl's brother. He couldn't blame Zack for going after Diana Loveless, really. Genesis might have himself if it wouldn't have posed such a troublesome problem to be going up against Zack, cause she sure was a cute one. Maybe he would just do Zack a favor and warn him to avoid Diana in the midst of a temper tantrum. That girl was deceivingly dangerous. Ah, well. That didn't mean he couldn't marvel over her intriguing name, at least. And he still found himself not being terribly opposed to the idea of getting to know Diana better. But for now – enough of all this talk. He was sufficiently bored all over again.

"If I may, Director," he chose to speak up lazily. Lazard swiveled to face the First. "I seem to have the need to be somewhere." Lazard nodded in response. "Thank you." A pause as the red-clothed man rose and crossed the room. "_Even if the morrow is barren of promises_…"

Diana turned to Zack with an eyebrow raised, sufficiently weirded out by the suddenly-absorbed-in-thought Genesis drifting out.

"_Nothing shall forestall my return_…"

Zack covered his face in one hand as the wannabe actor stepped into the elevator dramatically. "_Loveless_, Act One," he explained, muffled by the obstructing hand. He half-snorted at the irony of the name yet again and choked on it violently.

"Ah. What…fun," she said dryly. Diana was becoming a little concerned. She was about to ask Zack if he was all right; he sounded like death when he did whatever it was he kept doing to his lungs. Had he caught something? She thought SOLDIERs couldn't get sick because of the boost to the immune system that resulted from the mako. Maybe a random cough? Or he might be choking on the air. A completely plausible conclusion.

Tifa was continuing. "Anyway, so I try to ask Diana where she was going, but she won't answer me. She…do you want every detail, really?" she refrained from wrinkling her nose at Lazard. "Okay, okay, got it," she grumbled. Jeez. Military. So meticulous. "She says she just has to sit for a second cause she doesn't feel good. Sudden headache or dizziness or something." Tifa got that look on her face that indicated to anyone who watching closely enough that she could make a very well educated guess at the real reason for this. "Then all of a sudden, she passes out just like Devon did." She jerked her head at Diana. "I have no idea where she's actually staying or anything, so I took her back to my apartment too and put her in the back room."

"So you had these two in your apartment yet they never saw each other," the Director remarked in too-obvious dry disbelief, leaning forward to fold his hands on the table.

"Yes," she said defensively. "I'm not one to meddle in personal family affairs, or like, practically throw them at each other. And besides, I don't blame Devon for taking off in the morning! He's training for SOLDIER, for the Goddess' sake, of course he's paranoid. I wouldn't want to hang around in an unfamiliar setting with no memory of how I got there, either."

"Not exactly a welcoming environment when you look at it that way," Diana raised her eyebrows, backing up Tifa's point, arms crossed. "If someone unfamiliar had actually been up and walking around, I probably would've jumped on them or something," she muttered.

Zack just about died at this point, caught somewhere between guffawing at the irony and yelling at himself for his stupidity.

"What is up with you?" Devon was giving him a strange look. "Dude, you're having, like, an aneurysm or something. Seizure? Spontaneous coronary artery combustion?" Then she figured out that she had commented, as Devon, on exactly what had happened to Zack when he had come to see her that morning, as Diana. Well, wasn't that just the pickle on the crap sandwich.

"Er, Zack saw your sister this morning too…" Tifa explained hurriedly, feeling awkward because Diana obviously already knew this but she had to play along. "She didn't know where she was, like what you had done, and when Zack walked in she kinda flipped a shit and tackled him…"

Diana snickered nervously. "All right then. That's kinda funny." How was she supposed to react to that? Be the overprotective brother? Blow it off? Aha. Slither out and change the topic, of course! "What were you doing at Tifa's, though, Zack?"

"Looking for you, genius." Zack made a face. _Don't ask further, don't ask, don't ask, please…I wanna live…please…_

"Oh…yeah. Oops." Devon didn't seem particularly inclined to do any more asking.

Tifa was giving the Director a significant "can-we-go-now-already" look and he was pointedly ignoring her for the moment, hands still clasped on the table.

Lazard spoke. "Well, it all seems to be in order, just one thing I'm having trouble understanding. We're to take it as pure coincidence that both this young man," he indicated Diana, "and his sister simply happened to feel sick and then faint within minutes of each other, remaining unresponsive until the morning." Anyone could have heard the notes of skepticism clearly pronounced.

"I know it sounds odd, but—" Tifa tried to take off again but was stopped by Diana herself.

"I can explain better than you can." Diana's eyes widened imploringly to fire a flash of green across the room. She had to choose her words carefully here and she lapsed into more formal speech. "Sir, with due respect, I don't believe you can fully understand the link that my sister and I share. We've never known our true entire story, but we have reason to believe that we are connected in more than the obvious ways. Since we were children things like this have happened. Maybe not so drastic, but perhaps age has an increasing effect." She thought about what it sounded like she was saying and added hastily, "I'm not saying I have a liability or anything. Nothing ever has or will affect my actual physical state, especially without warning. I would…rather not discuss what brought it on. Simply an issue of the past." She ducked her head, the slight tightening of her mouth betraying her to be telling the truth.

"I will try to understand. Thank you, then. Most clarifying." Lazard steepled his fingers and looked at each of them severely, one by one, through his glasses. "Dismissed."

_Well, was that abrupt enough for ya? _Diana thought irritably. She shook her head slightly as she pushed out her chair and stood. The others did the same, Zack catching up to her as they headed for the elevators.

"Hey – you know I'm never gonna doubt your word, right?" He looked awkward at expressing the trusting emotion.

"Huh?" _Oh, real eloquent. _"Oh. Thanks, I guess, but I feel, I dunno, watched now," she sighed resignedly.

He snorted. "Hmph. Yeah, they'll ignore you eventually. Do something good and they'll stop planting cameras in your room."

"WHAT!" she screeched at an embarrassingly high pitch not to mention decibel level. "Oh. Joking. Right. Right." She blew out an uneasy breath. _Goddess, Zack, one of these days I'm gonna have to kill you… What a shame._

"See, you are learning!" he quipped brightly as she began muttering darkly to herself about how some puppies should have muzzles.

He had a thought and suddenly cast a sideways glance at her, to the closing elevator doors, to the door to the stairwell. She tuned in to his train of thought immediately and gave him the look right back, knowing exactly what he had in mind.

"Elevator race!" they both yelled, pelting for the stairs and taking them several at a time.

"No fair, SOLDIER!" Diana screamed after the faster man.

"Eat dust!" he was cackling like a maniac.

"In your mako-infused dreams!" She leaped over another four steps and lurched forward, clinging to what she could reach of the walls and propelling herself forward.

By the time they were a few flights up, Zack leaned out over the railing to yell down to her on the turn below him. "Give up yet?" he bellowed.

"Never!" she screeched back, continuing to hurtle upwards. Zack was slowing down, she was sure just to annoy her. She started laughing as well. Zack was just contagious that way.

Unfortunately, her timing was as unfortunate as always in regards to others she might encounter at any given unfortunate time.

"Fearsome Threesome at twelve o'clock!" Zack hollered, thoroughly hyped up in excitement by now.

She was about to ask him to please repeat that in between gasps of oxygen-deprived laughter when the very three came into view, like, smack in front of them.

"Hey'GealheyGenheySeph_comingthrough!_" He was on a real roll now. Diana just gave a weak half-wave in between chuckles and kept throwing herself forwards, tears of mirth threatening to spill over.

Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth turned to each other mutely and stopped to watch in interest. The cadet leapt up the last few remaining steps to where Zack was pausing slightly, evidently unaware of the impending danger. "Victory!" the smaller boy yelled as he tackled Zack around the knees with a surprisingly solid dive. Zack squawked in surprise and was sent crashing clear out into the hall where the door to the elevator shaft was. There were some more crashes and crazed laughter and yelps, then the clear, cheerful ding of the elevator sounded.

"Now it gets here," Angeal rolled his eyes. "Goofs." He half-smiled fondly.

"You didn't tell me that Fair had a miniature clone, Angeal. That's a certifiable threat to society," Sephiroth remarked.

And Genesis? Well, his complexion was steadily reddening and he promptly collapsed on the landing in an unprecedented silent fit of the giggles.

"You two are ridiculous," Tifa sighed as she and Cloud stepped out of the elevator, hands entwined, to see the two attacking each other on the ground. She just hoped those bandages were wrapped tight…but Diana wasn't the type to slip up or do anything stupid like that. They stopped wrestling and collapsed into laughter instead.

"I would say," Zack wheezed, "get a room, but—"

"—You just got an entire elevator!" Diana whooped, falling all over everywhere.

The pair just rolled their eyes and stepped over the two.

**A/N: So there you have it: confusion and an elevator! Hope you liked the funny stuff; I just might draw some further humorous inspiration from the List of Things To Do in an Elevator :D If you care to overanalyze and question, laugh, rant, or other, please review :) Thanks for reading!**


	14. Pringles, Pillows, and More Closets

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Obviously no one is going to be suing me because I never said I DID own anything I didn't, now did I? *waggles eyebrows* **

**A/N: I'm just gonna say this. Be prepared for cadets and SOLDIERs alike on sugar. Yeah, you heard me.**

**If you care for a soundtrack, try The Great Escape by Boys Like Girls. Let's face it: who doesn't love that song? :)**

**Chapter 14: Pringles, Pillows, and More Closets**

"…They had no reason to attack, but they did, and, well… And so there is no real Devon Loveless anymore," she finished quietly. Cloud had gone mute with shock and Tifa moved to put her arm around her friend.

"How long ago was that?" she murmured to Diana soothingly.

Diana actually had to think. A month and half, give or take, before she left home. Then for her time with Shinra…one week of training with Tifa. One day of pre-swords work, then five days of the Wutai mission followed by three in the hospital wing, then another week and a half so far with Angeal the swordsmaster. It was Tuesday, now. "About two and a half months? Anyway…it's all over now." She tried to smile shakily. "It's not like—_oh_!" She suddenly stared at Tifa. "I never told you!"

"Never told me what?" Tifa drew back a little, slightly nervous. Goddess, now what? She had a secret triplet who was spying behind Wutain lines in disguise?

"Last night – wow, only last night? – when I, uh, freaked out, you know…" She remembered everything, standing at the mirror…

"Yeah?" Tifa said slowly, cautiously. She didn't want to dredge up any more unpleasant memories.

"I swear to Gaia I saw Devon."

There was a heartbeat of silence. "You…wait, what? Di, that's not…"

"I know, I know, but I could swear I saw his reflection in place of mine when I looked up. In reality, we don't look similar enough for me to make a mistake like that. It was _not natural_!"

"Maybe he was talking to you from the Lifestream," Cloud spoke up softly. The two dark heads turned to him at the sudden input. "It happens, I've heard." Departed souls could supposedly return to warn their loved ones, or to get some kind of closure from their life, before they moved on.

"Oh…maybe…yeah… Yeah, that must've been it." Diana's expression cleared. That actually made a ton of sense, believe it or not. "Thanks."

"That's good, I guess," Tifa murmured. "Oh! We have company," she said quickly.

"You know what we need? Some _excitement_," Max declared, barging into Cloud and Diana's half of the dorm and sprawling on the couch. Shane followed more slowly. "Oh, hey, Tifa!"

"Any ideas? He's going for the all-out dramatic," Shane rolled his eyes.

"Wellll…" Diana said, considering. She could use some fun and excitement right now, as a matter of fact. "The king of all things dramatic and entertaining would be…"

Cloud grinned knowingly, the previous dank mood lifted. "Zack Fair."

* * *

Zack could hear the whispers from all the way down the hall with his enhanced hearing, even with his iPod in. He was sprawled on his bed in his apartment, and pressed pause on the metal/rock blaring into his ears to listen in amusement as whom he assumed to be three people trying to be stealthy came 'sneaking' down the hall. Uh-huh.

There was a final hushed whisper, then a light rapping of knuckles on the door. Zack rolled his eyes. Crash all the way to the door and then be all quiet and ninja-like? Really? Or maybe it was just his hearing. He watched in mild interest as the door began to shake with more forceful tremors. Maybe he should go and…nah. He just sighed and contemplated the 'Play' triangle on the button that his thumb was hovering over.

"_Zack!_" came a low whisper.

He blinked.

"_Zack, I know you're in there! You're not the only one with 'superpowers,' you know!_"

He groaned. Leave it to Devon…he was gonna kill that kid one of these days; all in good humor, of course.

"_I _will _break this door down…!_"

"Fine, fine," he grumbled, not really wanting to be disturbed but wrenching the door open anyway, and calmly stepping aside as a brunette charged by with a yelp of surprise at what used to be the door but was now thin air. "Max? Shoulda known."

Devon stepped delicately over his friend. "All clear, Shane," he said over his shoulder.

"Aw, man." The dark-haired twenty-year-old stepped out of his 'guard-keeping ninja pose' and closed the door behind him as he walked in, grinning like a maniac.

"Where's Spike? The fantastic four can't be complete without Cloud…" Zack rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the intruders.

"Oh, don't worry, he's raiding the kitchens," Max assured him, sacking out on the couch as per usual. "Ain't a party without some good food, after all."

"So you invade my apartment with the intention of throwing a party?" Zack's mouth quirked to the side.

"We haven't had real food in weeks!" Devon complained from where he was somehow taking up the entire floor with his small frame. "They're trying to keep us in shape or whatever, but I mean, really, this boy needs his chocolate!"

"So you sent Spiky in search of said food."

"Yep!"

"Yet you're the one with the genetically modified super-schnoz…"

"So? _Some_one had to lead the stealth mission!" the slight boy grinned insolently.

"You are such a moron, Dev."

"It's a gift." She couldn't deny that it was just way too much fun to be able to joke around like one of the guys. It was a new perspective, and she kind of loved to take advantage of her usually less-than-advantageous situation, ironically.

Zack sighed resignedly yet again. "What can I say?" He could use some entertainment. Maybe it was time to pull one of those crazed stunts he'd been mulling over with Kunsel. Either way; first, he needed whatever it was that Cloud was hunting down. "Fine. Spiky hurries up. We eat. We plot. We rock." He ended with the mischievous smirk that had snagged so many hearts and struck fear into just as many, if not more.

Perfectly on cue, a thud came on the door that he assumed to be a boot kicking it. Sure enough, upon opening, there stood…a heap of various edible items? With legs. And the telltale top of a chocobo head poking up over. Cloud wobbled in precariously and proceeded to chuck armfuls of the stuff everywhere, hoping he didn't hit anything important.

"_Doritos!_" Max screed out of nowhere, making a not-so-graceful dive off the couch to end with a not-so-quiet impact on the floor.

"Great Goddess above, man, you're gonna bring the whole freaking complex down," Shane grumbled, but smiled. "Technically we're being illegal here, so…"

"What, in comparison to your previous actions tonight? I'm surprised I didn't open my door to see three of you plowing down the building in a tank for all your subtlety."

"_Or _I could've knocked it down—" Devon reiterated, dragging the unfortunate Cloud out from where Max had landed on top of him, and snagging a bag of M&Ms before it was too late. "King size? Sweet."

"Like me?" smirked the not-so-subtle perv called Max.

"Whoa there. TMI. Save it for the ladies!" Devon snorted, by now used to the ever-present innuendos being made by her roommate.

"True fact. Hey, you—" Zack flung a pillow at Max, "—you still alive and breathing down there?"

An indignant but muffled string of noises was his answer as well as the pillow being thrown back with more force and less relative aim. It might have been "stop interrupting me" but then again sounded suspiciously like "stinking corrupt fees" which (quite understandably) aroused doubts in every department.

Zack laughed and failed to catch the pillow before it whapped Devon in the face. The smaller boy promptly choked on whatever he was practically inhaling and doubled over wheezing to fall off the side of Zack's bed where he was perched. In a second he straightened up to fix Max with the classic "You Shall Die An Epic Death For That" stare.

Shane took the opportunity to stop stuffing his face and ask Cloud, "What's _that_?" indicating a mysterious tube.

"Pringles," came the awed response.

"Oh. _Hey_! That was _me_!" he glared around at his three other snickering friends. Deeming Zack as the most likely candidate for the current troublemaking via pillow-war-in-the-making, he waited until the raven-haired turned his head away to target it with a Deadly Oreo of Doom.

It clocked him in the side of the head. Zack turned slowly with pretended murder in his eyes, not unlike Devon. "_This is war!_" he roared, completely throwing away any regard for rules as he sprang up.

Devon apparently decided to take his chances and jumped on Max, brandishing the cursed pillow.

And it all went downhill from there.

A good seven minutes of sugar-induced hyperactivity later, the five young men (or so it seemed) ended up piled in a heap in the middle of the floor, breathing heavily with huge grins plastered across their red faces. They felt kind of drugged out. Like coming down from a sugar rush, but not actually down, just taking a quick break. The kind of mood one gets in with a bunch of friends when one will suddenly start making unexpected confessions before the insanity revs up again.

Cloud sighed heavily all of a sudden. "You know, I never intended to get an ear piercing."

Diana gave him a strange look over someone's pantleg. "Beg pardon? What did you intend to poke a hole through instead?"

"I got dared into it while I was mildly tipsy this one time…" he just continued reminiscently.

Max nodded sympathetically, propping his chin in one hand and resting his elbow on Shane's back. "I hear ya, bro. Woke up once and a friend told me I had dates arranged with about eight different chicks the next day. Had no idea who most of 'em even were. Although one did happen to be my cousin…" he mused.

"Oh, dude. Nasty!" Shane looked appropriately horrified.

"What, like you haven't been so far gone you didn't know who it was you were hooking up with?"

"Not something I make a habit of, incidentally. Thunder," he commented in the ADD manner that he took on in this state. Sure enough, mild rumbles were sounding in the distance.

"I danced around on the roof of the local tavern with my sister during a thunderstorm once. Our dad just about had a heart attack," Diana sniggered secretively.

"… I have a confession to make…" Everyone turned to look at Zack in expectant amusement. "Dev… I have a date with your sister in three days."

"Wha-at?" She had to remember to jump and look appropriately shocked, lost, and confused. She had to become Devon for the moment and act the protective older brother. (Because, technically, he was older. Three minutes and forty seconds later, so what? Really?)

"I was gonna tell you that at that party a while back… She was there, and I met her."

"She was…there? I never saw…her…" Devon frowned slightly. "Well, we were fighting then, kinda, and… Oh. Yeah. I know exactly what she was thinking. Got it." He smiled. "I've got it all. No prob. I understand. But, hello…what happened with you?" She honestly wanted to know how Zack had seen it, and besides, the chocobo was out of the bag now. Now she just had to avoid encounters with, um, herself… Nah. Just shut up and listen to Zack.

"Wellll…" he mumbled indecisively.

"Come onnnn, you know you wanna tell so you can brag," Max wheedled.

Zack gave him a look. "About what?"

"How much action you got, naturally."

"Whoa there! Sister! Hello!" Diana yelped at Max, but she was laughing all the same. These guys really were hysterical, if mostly pervy. What the hell. She had her hormone freakouts. They had theirs. Only, permanently.

"All we did was talk! Well, okay, so I saw her and then she took off without seeing me, so I kinda followed her and she was lost and we talked then. And no," he looked at Max, "no 'action' was taken then." He grinned conspiratorially all the same.

"Awwww man. Woulda made a better story. But after Friday…" the brunette waggled his eyebrows and Shane laughed and slapped him a high five.

"That's freaking hysterical," Devon shook his head, grinning. "I'm serious!"

"Wait, so…you're chill about it?" Zack queried.

"'_Chill'_? Dude, it's _funny_! Like, keep me posted!" Devon fairly cackled.

"…Allllrighty then," Shane chuckled to himself. "Zack, speaking of…any other bombs you'd care to drop?"

"Heh. Well, off the topic of my love life, what I used to do in my free time to give my folks near-seizures is engaging in midnight expeditions," Zack stretched his long limbs out over everybody in all directions, causing Diana to have to try very, very hard not to stare in the wrong places (or the very, _very _wrong places for that matter).

"Oh?" Cloud said, possibly attempting to detract any attention from his female friend, who had begun to look very red and very pale at the same time when Zack said 'love life', and the attention was no longer on her or the mask she temporarily had to keep on. "And that encompasses…?"

"Oh, you know… It started with trips to the twenty-four hour coffee shop… Then my modes of transportation got a little more, ah, radical. Stole a tractor once," he grinned. "Now _that _was a good time."

"Followed by cow-tipping, obviously," Max snorted.

"Absolutely. Backwater towns are the best. No good clubs in Gongaga, though. Was too young then anyway."

"Goddess, I hope so," Diana muttered. "I shudder to think."

"Hey, at least you're probably doing stuff you'll _remember _in the morning," Shane looked significantly at his roommate. Thunder rolled again dramatically.

"Hey now! Was I totally wasted that time a few weeks ago? No!" Max protested.

"You also crashed into the friggin' wall…" Diana laughed at the memory. "Depth perception's without a doubt the first to go."

"I'm doomed," Cloud moaned. "_Dooooomed_…"

All of a sudden: footsteps. Down the hall? Yes. Coming closer? Yes. With a purpose? Yes. Was that purpose good for the five? Probably not.

"Shit, we're dead! Actually, _you _guys are dead—" Zack glanced at his friends with a trace of worry. If it was Sephiroth, or almost worse, Angeal… Curfew was over an hour ago, never mind the illegal food (Goddess, that sounded funny), noise levels, and the fact that the cadets were in the Firsts' barracks.

"Duck and cover!" Diana whispered. This had an interesting effect on four men and one woman still riding a temporarily dormant sugar high.

Max and Shane dove for the nearest door, which happened to be Zack's bathroom. Upon discovering that there was nowhere to hide, they stumbled back out with more noise than necessary and made a bid for the next portal: a closet full of miscellaneous stuff.

Meanwhile, Cloud scrambled to try to fit under Zack's bed but found this to be virtually impossible, so he spread-eagled on the wooden floor and covered his head with a stray pillow. Most effective.

Diana stood whirling about, looking for somewhere to stay inconspicuously, when she followed her two roommates' lines of sight and made a similar bid in the direction of the closet, momentarily forgetting recent experiences and grabbing Cloud on the way to haul the unfortunately temporarily brainless blonde along by the back of his shirt.

And Zack? Well, Zack proceeded to sprawl over the floor and try to cover the illegally obtained food items (seeing as how this was _his _apartment and all.) When that didn't work he just went with what was given to him and was the last into his closet, somehow closing the door silently with his SOLDIER sensitivity.

So that was how Diana Loveless found herself crammed into the back of a closet full of crap, in the apartment of a man who just happened to be her sort-of boyfriend, with her four best male friends including said boyfriend.

The 'someone' knocked on Zack's door (the real one). When no one came, they heard the telltale jingle of keys and the unmistakable click of the lock unlatching. After a second's hesitation, during which the individual probably came to the perfectly rational conclusion that the room had obviously been used as a hurricane simulator, the steps unerringly came straight to the closet and whomever the steps belonged to wrenched the door open.

Kunsel blinked. Zack was standing inches in front of him, grinning his ass off with slightly unfocused eyes darting everywhere at once.

Then he noticed the three faces showing behind his friend. Or rather, two faces and a head of hair. Bright golden yellow chocobo-like hair.

"_Hey_, Kuns!" Zack said too cheerfully to be entirely sober. The sudden explosion of activity had returned them all to their previous states of apparently being very high.

"…Zack? What may I ask are you doing in your closet in the middle of the night with three cadets?"

Ignoring or quite possibly completely overlooking the scandalous implications, Zack's grin spread wider. He fidgeted around and leaned forward conspiratorially. "We're hiding 'cause it's a secret—!"

"GET YOUR ASS OUT OF MY FACE!"

Diana had somehow been squashed to the back and down partway to the floor, resulting in her eye level being at a rather inappropriate place. In her slight incoherency as a result of the sugar overload, coupled with awkwardness and subsequent indignation, she proceeded to screech at Zack's offending boxers.

"What the—? There are _more_?" The light brunette in the doorway looked mildly horrified.

"Sure, just tell Zack to move his ass already!"

Zack fairly (no pun intended) giggled and stepped out of the Closet of Doom. "Sorryyyy but at least we all know it's a damn good ass to have in your face!"

Kunsel facepalmed. "Would anyone sane here care to explain…" he looked behind him at the mess all over the room and the junk food clicked in his brain. Goddess help him, they weren't drunk, or high, well, at least not high on drugs. They were on _sugar and caffeine_.

"…What you were planning on doing next?" he rephrased midsentence. One muddy brown eye opened from behind his hand to behold the smallest cadet with the bright sea green eyes – unusual for being mako-less – who was clambering out of the closet after the tall darkish one. Zack made introductions between the group, and Kunsel Tilling: SOLDIER Second Class.

"Well, now what?" Max was, naturally, the first to shoot up and stand bouncing on his toes.

"We make a _plan_," Cloud said, staggering to his feet as well and looking drunk rather than on a sugar rush.

"I have an idea!" Zack's eyes widened comically, much to Diana's amusement.

Kunsel groaned again knowingly. "Zack, I thought we established that that wasn't going to work, even if we did manage to—"

"No time to lose, let's get a move on!" Zack had grabbed a huge backpack from the depths of the closet, full to bursting with…stuff?

Let the games begin.

**A/N: Another humor chapter for ya! Yeah, it's a bit of a plot tangent, but it does in fact have significance. It's Diana's time of enjoying herself with the guys, building relationships and character and all that :P Thanks for reading and enjoy the continuing madness! Reviews appreciated, as always. Let's get that number to sixty, yeah? :D**


	15. Feel Like I Can Fly

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I own closets. I own backpacks. I own Pringles. Do I own FFVII? I think not.**

**A/N: The insanity continues! :D Not much else to say but read enjoy and please review!**

**Chapter 15: Feel Like I Can Fly**

A few minutes and much hilarity in the ways of "sneaking-around-with-your-friends-while-already-totally-wired-in-that-way-that-just-makes-you-all-even-more-hyper-and-more-prone-to-accidents-and-more-laughing-due-to-said-accidents" later, five young men and one young woman were standing on the roof of a dormitory complex. In the middle of a thunderstorm. With a backpack full of yet-to-be-identified items.

Zack and Kunsel – who seemed to want in on the fun just as much as anyone, now – were hurriedly debating instructions back and forth. The four cadets watched with interest, bouncing ideas off each other as to what the pranksters were plotting.

And what a plot it was. Kunsel was having a ball, running back and forth between two high poles on the roof which thankfully appeared to be made of wood as opposed to metal. (Everyone knew the science department building had the highest protrusions out the top anyway, including lightning rods, rumored to be used for crazy experiments.) He appeared to be attaching some sort of contraption between the poles, scaling a little ways up one and assuring the rest of them that it was perfectly safe. This coming from the guy hanging halfway upside-down looking like some sort of demented bat, wrestling with a couple ropes, in the midst of a collecting thunderstorm. The rain was beating down on him and flattening his curls, the lightning whitewashing and sharpening the scene with steadily increasing frequency.

"That's a rough job, there." Max commented randomly, nodding sagely. "I can…sympathize? No. It's emphasize. I'm…uh…sympathetic? Amphithetic? Apathetic? Empathetic. Epileptic?"

"Yeah, you're _some _kinda pathetic," Shane sniggered aside.

Diana caught sight of a rising cloudbank moving moderately fast and inexorably straight for them and a crazed grin took over her heightened senses without her awareness. No sense of foreboding. Just…_excitement_. She hadn't felt this great in what felt like forever! And it wasn't just the caffeine overload that was doing it to her.

"All right! Got the cables?" Kunsel had to yell to Zack over the pounding of the rain on the roof.

"Yep! Is it still stable from the first time?"

"Sound as it'll ever be. Straight to…well, you know where." They shared a conspiratorial grin.

"Who's first?" Kunsel clapped his hands and thunder growled again appropriately.

"ME!" Diana didn't even realize that she'd exploded out until she was jumping in the air with an arm in the air excitedly.

Zack barked a laugh. "SWEET!" He thrust a cable at her with what the next flash of lightning revealed to be a kind of pulley system hooked on halfway down it.

"All right, so you throw it over til it's halfway, and you link this…" Kunsel motioned with his hands and Diana slung the cable over the long one that they had apparently rigged up a while ago. It went on a slight downward angle over several rooftops, ending…somewhere. Hm. Oh, well! She let the cable hang from the track and twisted the loose end together with a secure-sounding _click_. Secure? This was Zack's engineering at work. Of course it wasn't anywhere near safe, by any stretch of the imagination. But then, what was the point to life if she wasn't going to do the insane while she could?

"You should be able to theoretically stand here especially cause you're small – no offense – and theoretically hang on like your life depends on it 'cause theoretically it does, and push off and go _that way_." He made an elaborate series of gestures. "And land…safely. Theoretically."

"Wicked!" she crowed in anticipation. Hell, she didn't even care where she was going to end up, this was gonna be _fun_!

"Don't be afraid to give it a little _oomph_—"

"Afraid! Me? Never! WHOOOOOO!" she screamed, deigning it necessary to not only push off, but to go and get a running start and leap onto the damned thing, heeling backwards violently on impact and holding on for dear life as she pitched forward in the clear darkness.

The air rushing past her as she bounced slightly was crisp for early summer, especially despite the storm. Lightning splatter-painted the spread of scenery around her and she faintly heard her friends whooping for her, already yards behind. She let go with one hand and stuck it out, waving wildly and screeching again.

The feeling was…she couldn't even come up with the right word in her hyperaware brain. It was beyond amazing, or exhilarating, or breathtaking. Yes, it was all those, but to her, that was what people always said. To her, it tasted like pure freedom. To her, it was letting go and changing her life. It was the essence of not giving up. It was the freaking time of her _life_.

Thunder cracked louder this time, just after a burst of lightning informed her that she was heading straight for a solid wall. She was going ridiculously fast and there was no way to get away, unless she'd fancy a several-story drop to the ground which judging by the trajectory – the analytical part of her mind piped up – she wouldn't even make it to, smashing into the wall of a building first.

She'd like to be able to say later that she laughed in the face of death. That she made a heroic speech of past deeds done and those to come. Maybe even that her life flashed before her eyes and she had a sudden epiphany of the meaning and purpose of her life on Gaia.

The truth? Her only thoughts: _Shitshitshit#*^&%?$^!$#(%^!%#(*$!_ Then, _Waaaa-hooooooooo!_ Then something vaguely logical: _This sucks but WHO %$#&ING CARES!_

Her legs reflexively tried to fly out in front of her to take the force of the collision, which would have been futile anyway and shattered them both, but one got stuck somehow, throwing off her balance so that she went flying through the wall—

Wait. Through the wall? Plywood saves the day again!

—Which of course still hurt like hell but she was slowed down enough to come to a running stop.

She had just barely registered that she could no longer see the sky (where'd it go?) even though she was looking up, when she noticed too late the second round of yells from the first rooftop and Zack Fair came hurtling through the Diana-sized hole in the wall, taking out a good chunk with his larger surface area. Hello.

"AAAG—" and she was promptly squashed by the offender.

"THAT WAS EVEN BETTER THAN I THOUGHT!" Zack was already cackling in crazed laughter as he slammed her into a wall by accident, with not much of a collision with the plywood to slow him down.

"IT WAS BUT I THINK YOU JUST CAVED IN THE WALL WITH MY FACE!" came the hacking reply. Wall plaster. Ugh. But that was so awesome!

"SORRY!" Zack had no idea why they were both still yelling.

"S'okay!" his friend yelled back, looking around for something to prop against the wall the conceivably soften the landing. "We are SO loud it's GREAT!" It was true, she thought as she continued to grin like a maniac. Hey, look. We're in a room. Like, a dorm. Heh. Hey, look: a bed! A mattress! Perfecto!

She grabbed the thick slab and hauled it to the wall, not actually stopping to think about the fact that they were in the dark in an unidentified dorm together.

Max came roaring through with Shane close behind, followed by Kunsel a moment later. After a moment of yelling in each other's faces in pure ecstasy and clearly unbridled insanity, a voice spoke from the corner. That was never good.

"Is this the entire renegade force, or have I yet to see more of you?" it asked dryly. Huh. A familiar voice…it should have been terrifying, but everything was just so damn _hysterical _right now! Like…like…being confronted by a huge-assed monster, and instead of quaking in fear or pulling out a huge-assed weapon to combat it, just laughing loudly in its face until it quite possibly died of humiliation!

"Yuppp, we're all good here, General—!" Zack was drawling without really thinking about it, then abruptly realized himself and jumped about three feet in the air. Being Zack, he recovered all too quickly. "Good Goddess, Sephy, what are you doing about at this time of night? You might get eaten by a wandering…uh, a mutant chocobo! Hehe. Mutant chocobo. Hey! It'd be like if you took Cloudy here and dunked him in a vat of defective mako!" He sped on and on and continued to giggle to himself madly. Diana couldn't suppress a short-lived little shriek of laughter herself, causing her friends to look at her and chuckle. Wowww, was this what it felt like to be _drunk_? It had to be damn close, except she was still capable of making decisions and wasn't likely to end up wrapped around a tree if she got in a car and could walk straight. But otherwise!

The voice that had been revealed to be Sephiroth stepped slightly out of the corner, avoiding the wreckage of the shattered wall. Ha! She had actually shattered a wall. She chuckled harder as the General spoke. "First off, these are my _rooms_. And secondly, Zachary, are you doing drugs? Or rather," he glanced mildly with what would have been a staggered, twitching expression on someone with slightly more emotion than a lump of petrified wood at the First's five comrades, "_dealing _drugs?" Loveless was bouncing on the balls of his feet, looking like he was about to explode with the pent-up pressure of something that was making him look rather constipated.

"Noooo sir, that's il_legal_!" Kunsel gasped. Apparently he'd taken the opportunity to sugarload as well.

"That's pretty illegal, even for us!" Max added on in a ridiculous wide-eyed expression of shock.

"…Agreed. Zack, I'm going to assume you are the respective leader here so I would appreciate it if you were to kindly explain all this."

"Can't tell you that, it's a seeecret!" Zack recycled his words from earlier in the closet.

"And why is that."

"Cause we don' wanna get in trouble! You won't get us in trouble, will you, Sephy?" Zack turned his trademark Puppy Eyes on the General, who was silently thanking the Goddess for his already silver hair, because had it not been, he would be completely gray by now. Mostly due to these such antics, among others.

Sephiroth considered. Well, they were all practically delirious anyway… He wanted to go back to sleep, and he could coax it out of Fair in the morning. "Only if you stop calling me that. And keep the noise down or you'll have bigger problems."

"Yayyyy thank yoooou Sephy let's go guys!" The six of them somehow located the door – albeit not before accidentally locating the bathroom and something or someone did what sounded suspiciously like falling into the bathtub – and stumbled down the hall for the exit.

Sephiroth sighed. He had forgotten that his rooms were a disaster and going back to bed looked to be somewhat difficult at the moment.

* * *

In the morning, a confused Angeal woke up to the sound of someone breathing in his or her sleep in his living room. Upon further investigation, he discovered his silver-haired friend. He got eight words: "Do not ask and do not bother me."

* * *

Cloud woke up vaguely confused, with a questioning Tifa standing menacingly over him.

"Good, you're awake. Are you hungover?" she demanded.

"…Wha? No, no, I…uhhnn…so…tired…" he moaned quietly.

"You and—" she glanced cautiously at the door to Max and Shane's room, which was ajar— "Dev crashed on the couch last night. I had to carry you both to bed early this morning. Care to explain?"

"I'll just start by saying that Max got bored," Diana put in from where she was dangling disjointedly off the end of her bunk, having fallen off from a groggy lack of balance. She tried to fill in the blanks to her friend and realized more and more how dumb they all were, and the stupid things they'd all said—and Zack! She tried to force down a combination of a blush and a bubble of laughter. The guy was, what, twenty-three, and there he was, acting like a six-year-old? What utter idiocy they'd engaged in. She feverishly hoped that "Sephy" hadn't turned them in. Wow, they must have seemed like they were on drugs, when she thought about it.

"OH MY GAWDESS GUYS—"

"WHOA!" Diana shot out of her awkward position with an unexpected full body spasm and dove over a stool, splatting on the floor with her bed between her and the intruder for protection.

"—Eh?" Zack cocked his peculiar bedhead to one side.

"AGH!" She swore, recognizing the voice in a heartbeat and making another dive for the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it tightly.

Zack looked at Cloud. "What's eatin' _him _alive?"

Diana slumped against the door in relief. That was close. Last night, she'd been calmed down enough to take off her bandages out of discomfort. She hadn't expected someone to just walk in like that, much less have it be Zack! She was never going to get peace…oh well. Casting a wary glance at the door, she hunted for her rolls of bandaging in the cupboard under the sink.

She began carefully winding the strips of various materials around her upper torso. These were becoming easier to live with. It was like using a gauged earring—bit by bit, it was less painful and her body adapted. Now, if she were Tifa, maybe that would be a different story. Her busty friend would never have a chance.

Once she was done, she made a face at her reflection, willing herself to look as manly as possible for the moment. Jeez, that sounded just plain pathetic. It would have been even sadder if she were actually a guy and had to be making that wish. Thinking that over, she noticed how much her ponytail had grown out. _Hm. Scissors? I think yes. Much better._

After approximately four minutes of very loosely estimated hair-chopping-off (hey, it wasn't like guys really took the time to make it neat anyway) she walked calmly out of the bathroom and all those present turned to give her pointed looks. Taking inventory: two mildly concerned, two confused, and one amused.

"You know, honestly I don't think I'm quite that scary…" the amused one commented.

"Sorry, sorry, panic attack, don't mind me…" Diana went on muttering about nothing in particular.

"What took ya so long to get the anxiety under control?" Max hopped up on the kitchen counter.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Hey, you don't even wanna try to deal with this." She yanked the hem of her shirt up to show the bottom of the tightly bound wraps.

"Oh, oh yeahhhh," Shane trailed off into a yawn. "R**'**member now."

"That was such a party last night," Cloud echoed the yawn, which got everybody going except for Tifa, who planted her hands on her hips.

"So you're telling me that a seemingly intoxicated _Puppy _convinced Sephiroth to let you all off the hook after you _went through his wall_?"

"Well, technically, that wasn't completely through the wall 'cause the hole was already there, he just covered it with ply—"

"Stop barking, Puppy, I don't even want to know the horrors of what you've dragged Kunsel into before this." Tifa rolled her eyes.

"Half of it is actually his—!"

"I said—"

"—Never been arrested and—"

"—what do you think he'll say today—"

"—hey, Cloud, what's—"

"—completely irresponsible—"

"—a First Class anyway, and besides they can always threaten—"

"—you're not my mother—"

"—but doesn't that hurt?—"

"—never a time when we—"

"—NINJA!"

Huh? The Tower of Babel came to order when Max excitedly pointed out the window.

* * *

Yuffie cursed in Wutain. Not ten minutes on this rooftop and already she'd managed to lose one of her materia and had ended up hanging upside down from a ledge on the side of the building trying to reach for it.

And that was before the crowd of people in what looked like a dorm flat-out spotted her.

* * *

Zack sighed as the petite girl with short black hair came into view again. "I'll call Vincent to handle it; that girl looks Wutain. He never does anything in the mornings anyway, except mope."

Tifa took the opportunity to shove the entire rest of the group out the door with a hasty, "You'll be late!" if only for the sake of stopping another mass screaming match.

**A/N: Did you like the continued hilarity? :D I try. And I credit Ultimate for the ziplining idea! (Although, no, I'm sorry, they didn't do it in their boxers.) Ahem. Oh, and by the way, I know I'm doing some serious screwing with the real timeline thing, but Yuffie is in her late teens here even though she's supposedly a young child during the Wutai war.**

**So I hate to have to say this, but I won't be able to update again for another week and half-ish, possibly more :( I'm going somewhere for a week – Ultimate shall be there too – and then after that to my family's summer place for seven weeks. Hello. So updates will be a bit few and far between, but once I get back home in August I should be writing like crazy. I'm at least a good thirty pages ahead of myself on a Word document, so it's all right if I can't sit down to write for a little while at least :) I just wanted to say you've all been fantastic to listen to my story, reviewers or not, and I'll miss the extreme frequency of checking updates and all for the summer. I'll catch up with it all soon after, but it's quite a part of my life now so I want to say thank you for making it that way. I'll be back soon! :) And officially, have a great summer everyone.**


	16. Angels

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: You know what I don't own. All the rest…MINE! XD**

**A/N: I'm sorry! I promise I still love you! I just got very very unable to update, so don't kill me with a spork. Please. Warning! Part of this chapter = confusion but not over the obvious. Let me know if I was really confusing you during her dream (yes it's one of **_**those**_** chapters.) And yes it's also one of **_**those**_** chapters where I steal song lyrics O_o Listen to Angels by Within Temptation if you feel like it :) Thanks for waiting and reading, and review please! (Even if I do deserve a smack for the chapter name originality fail.)**

**Chapter 16: Angels**

Cloud woke up vaguely confused, with a questioning Tifa standing menacingly over him.

"Good, you're awake. Are you hungover?" she demanded.

"…Wha? No, no, I…uhhnn…so…tired…" he moaned quietly.

"You and—" she glanced cautiously at the door to Max and Shane's room, which was ajar— "Dev crashed on the couch last night. I had to carry you both to bed early this morning. Care to explain?"

"I'll just start by saying that Max got bored," Diana put in from where she was dangling disjointedly off the end of her bunk, having fallen off from a groggy lack of balance. She tried to fill in the blanks to her friend and realized more and more how dumb they all were, and the stupid things they'd all said—and Zack! She tried to force down a combination of a blush and a bubble of laughter. The guy was, what, twenty-three, and there he was, acting like a six-year-old? What utter idiocy they'd engaged in. She feverishly hoped that "Sephy" hadn't turned them in. Wow, they must have seemed like they were on drugs, when she thought about it.

"OH MY GAWDESS GUYS—"

"WHOA!" Diana shot out of her awkward position with an unexpected full body spasm and dove over a stool, splatting on the floor with her bed between her and the intruder for protection.

"—Eh?" Zack cocked his peculiar bedhead to one side.

"AGH!" she swore, recognizing the voice in a heartbeat and making another dive for the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it tightly.

Zack looked at Cloud. "What's eatin' him alive?"

Diana slumped against the door in relief. That was close. Last night, she'd been calmed down enough to take off her bandages out of discomfort. She hadn't expected someone to just _walk in_ like that, much less have it be Zack! She was never going to get peace… Oh well. Casting a wary glance at the door, she hunted for her rolls of bandaging in the cupboard under the sink.

She began carefully winding the strips of various materials around her upper torso. These were becoming easier to live with. It was like using a gauged earring—bit by bit, it was less painful and her body adapted. Now, if she were Tifa, maybe that would be a different story. Her busty friend would never have a chance.

Once she was done, she made a face at her reflection, willing herself to look as manly as possible for the moment. Jeez, that sounded just plain pathetic. It would have been even more pathetic if she were actually a guy and had to be making that wish. Thinking that over, she noticed how much her ponytail had grown out. _Hm. Scissors? I think yes. Much better._

After approximately four minutes of very loosely estimated hair-chopping-off (hey, it wasn't like guys really took the time to make it neat anyway) she walked calmly out of the bathroom and all those present turned to give her pointed looks. Taking inventory: two mildly concerned, two confused, and one amused.

"You know, honestly I don't think I'm quite that scary…" the amused one commented.

"Sorry, sorry, panic attack, don't mind me…" Diana went on muttering about nothing in particular.

"What took ya so long to get the anxiety under control?" Max hopped up on the kitchen counter.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Hey, you don't even wanna _try _to deal with _this_." She yanked the hem of her shirt up to show the bottom of the tightly bound wraps that concealed her supposed spinal condition.

"Oh, oh yeahhhh," Shane trailed off into a yawn. "**'**Member now."

"That was such a party last night," Cloud echoed the yawn, which got everybody going except for Tifa, who planted her hands on her hips.

"So you're telling me that a seemingly intoxicated _Puppy _convinced Sephiroth to let you all off the hook after you _went through his wall?_"

"Well, technically, that wasn't completely through the wall 'cause the hole was already there, he just covered it with ply—"

"Stop barking, Puppy, I don't even want to know the horrors of what you've dragged Kunsel into before this." Tifa rolled her eyes.

"Half of it is actually his—!"

"I said—"

"—Never been arrested and—"

"—what do you think he'll say today—"

"—hey, Cloud, what's—"

"—completely irresponsible—"

"—a First Class anyway, and besides they can always threaten—"

"—you're not my mother—"

"—but doesn't that hurt?—"

"—never a time when we—"

"—NINJA!"

Huh? The Tower of Babel came to order when Max excitedly pointed out the window.

* * *

Yuffie cursed in Wutaian. Not ten minutes on this rooftop and already she'd managed to lose one of her materia and had ended up hanging upside down from a ledge on the side of the building trying to reach for it.

And that was before the crowd of people in what looked like a dorm flat-out pointed and stared at her.

* * *

Zack sighed as the petite girl with short black hair came into view again. "I'll call Vincent to handle it, that girl looks Wutaian. He never does anything in the mornings anyway, except mope."

Tifa took the opportunity to shove the entire rest of the group out the door with a hasty, "You'll be late!" if only for the sake of stopping another mass screaming match.

-twenty-four hours later-

"IIIIIIIIt's _Fridaaaay_!"

"Whaaaa…hm?" Diana snarled a yawn and fixed the disgustingly wide-awake and cheerful Tifa with a look. "Are you planning on making a habit of the waking-us-up thing or am I still having a nightmare?" As a matter of fact, she had had a vaguely disturbing dream. No recollection of what it had been, of course, but all she got was a distinct feeling of angst and discomfort. Fantastic. At night, couldn't she just put the things behind her that she thought she had? They just had to insist on haunting her mind. Well, she'd just have to be stubborn like she always was, and stand her ground and learn to face whatever chose to bombard her.

"Don't worry, I enjoy this much more than you do!" Tifa chirped.

"Wait, what? That didn't work—"

"Priorities here, priorities. It's Friday. Now what's happening Friday?"

"Um… Goddess, Teef, it's too early…"

"Guess already!" She was actually bouncing up and down, perched on the edge of the bed.

Diana glanced over at where Cloud was still asleep and oblivious. Lucky bastard. "Uh, it's yours and Cloud's anniversary?"

"No, no, nothing to do with me, silly. Not me, _you_. Think!"

"Okay, uh, two nights ago was crazy…before that was Tuesday, and before that was when… _That's today?_" she screeched suddenly.

"Yes, hon, and don't shriek so loud. _Someone _has a date tonight." Tifa waggled her eyebrows mischievously.

"Oh, shit. Oh, holy hell. Goddess damn it all. Oh…" Diana buried her head under her pillows again, muffling the blue streak that she was now swearing.

"You'll be fine, it's just a normal date except with a little bit more thinking-on-your-feet and choosing of words."

Her head poked out again. "But I've never _been _on a real 'normal date'!" she lamented.

Tifa stared at her. "You're kidding."

"Hey, am I really that weird? Honestly, it's not all that uncommon…well, okay, maybe—"

"One: for Gaia's sake, you're nearly twenty! Two: _you_? Never, _ever_?"

"Emmm, no…unless you wanna count…no. No, never mind."

"Jeez, you're gonna need some therapy or something, here—"

"Why so shocking 'me'?"

Tifa's eyes were sure to just go and fall right out of her head the next time she blinked. "You're you. Never had a boyfriend? Goddess, even I've had my share."

"But you're all pretty and—" Diana didn't call her friend on the difference in relations between 'date' and 'boyfriend.' In fact, she wasn't even going to go near the touchy subject of boyfriends. She had had her share of bad experiences there and she didn't care to relive any of all _that_.

"Don't you go and play that card, my gorgeous. Now get up and stop lying to yourself." Tifa realized almost too late not to cut off her command at 'lying.' She didn't want that to come up again; above all, she just wanted Di to allow herself some happiness. "And smile, for the love of all that's holy and unholy. You're going on a date with Zack Fair."

"Oh…oh, jeez…help…" she all but whimpered. A little thread of dream recollection flicked in the back of her mind at the mention of Zack, but she subconsciously brushed it away.

"This is gonna be so much fun. My plans come together…" Tifa tapped her fingertips together and gave Diana a mock evil grin.

"Wait… Hang on. Remembering."

"Huh? Remembering what?" Tifa dropped the expression.

"I had some wicked weird dream last night…wait for it… Oh my…" She sank back down on the bed and closed her eyes. "I'm fine, just give me a sec, I feel like I really wanna remember this…"

-Dream flashback-

She couldn't have told anyone where she was, but it didn't feel particularly familiar. The landscape kept shifting every time she took notice or looked around, from sand, to thick forests, to craggy clifftops, to falling snow.

The odd thing that she noticed right away was that she didn't seem to be doing anything, just standing, drifting, observing as a third party. Her consciousness kept going in and out of two different viewpoints: one in a physical body that she could feel and must have been hers, that was facing the sole other human present, and another that felt like she was floating, merely a passing thought that had drifted by to watch the scene unfold.

In the body she was watching from, it felt more and more like she was merely using it as a host and had no control over what it might say or do. And that was slightly unsettling.

What disturbed her the most as a bystander was the person facing her. Not so much the person, really, as the expression he was wearing. He was furious, and in pain. And with the little amount of alternate information that her dream-mind had inherited, she knew it was somehow her fault.

He had believed in her and taken her as his savior, and she had failed him…somehow. The body that she was inhabiting knew why, but she couldn't seem to extract the specific information at all. She couldn't even remember who he was, actually, try as she may to match a name to the face. However, she knew that the person that was representing her here (she wouldn't think of it as herself when they were clearly on very different pages in this reality) knew perfectly well who, what, when, where, and how. Maybe even why.

He continued to pierce her with a glare of vibrantly glowing blue eyes. A voice began to sound in her head, rhythmically, yet without distinctive words. She couldn't help but think that it must be her person's thoughts and therefore her subconscious' attempt to clue her in on the events that she clearly did not understand.

**…****No remorse… Because I still remember…**

The voice was neither distinctly male nor female, and had no distinguishing cadence or inflection. It was pitched neither high nor low; had no emotion.

**…****Took my heart…**

What in the world had she done to make the man standing there so angry, if her mind was the one accusing him of something? Wait…a tone. A hint of sentience, growing stronger. An identity?

…**Deceived me right from the start.**

That wasn't anywhere near to what her mental voice should sound like to her. In fact, it was now decidedly masculine. It must have been of the mystery man, not of her body.

She realized that emotions were starting to rule her as well. And they weren't her own. She felt intruded upon, imposed upon, and yet powerless to make a difference to this. Nothing, no one, should be ruling her mind, her body, like this. If she was indeed supposed to be there. Was she the intruder here? Was she supposed to be hearing this, feeling this? Yet she found that she couldn't pull back, pull out - nothing.

She was unexpectedly submerged in a violent wave of grief. Thoughts flickered through her mind that she found herself listening in on, as they were not her own at all.

_I deceived him? I never meant to…it was only for everyone's safety… He didn't have to hate mefor that, did he? He had no right…but he did. I could have told him…and looking back, maybe it would have solved all my problems early on. No, that wasn't it. I never should have even been there in the first place…now all my fault_...

A small bead of liquid escaped the corner of 'her' eye, tracing a salty path down over her cheekbone and trickling down her jawline.

With the tear, the sorrow abruptly vanished and it felt like a darker side was now ruling the mentality of her hosting body. Satisfaction enveloped her, and it was _evil_. She was _enjoying _the pain she had caused here, reveling in the agony. She felt 'herself' smirk and the expression was perverse, bitter.

And the worst part was that no matter the degree of anguish she was feeling inside, the only side that was showing on the outside was the one taking pride in the torment she was causing

She might have imagined the minute clenching of his teeth by the man facing her. His dark brows drew further together as another phrase snapped across the air soundlessly.

**You showed me dreams.**

Dreams…took my heart… What did that mean? Diana wondered as the third entity observing. Surely he hadn't loved her, whoever she really was at the moment. She got the idea that she was in a different version of herself—the body that had witnessed past events and the consciousness that was trying to help her were the knowledgeable ones here. She thought again that she was merely an innocent passer-by. Then why was another drop, heated and dry at the same time, carving its way past her nose to bead on the corner of her lip and drip off reluctantly?

His radiant eyes were narrowing.

**I'd wished they'd turn real.**

So he was saying she really had tricked him, deceived him, cheated him, misled him, betrayed him, lied to him. Why would she hurt him, as she so clearly had, try as he might to mask it? Taking a good look at him, she didn't notice for a moment that she was a floater again instead of facing him. He was glaring at a young woman who was most definitely her, or at least a perfect representation, right down to the scars.

And he was beautiful. She couldn't think of any good word for him, even in the midst of a deadly staring match of rage and betrayal. The wind on the hilltop picked up and leaves swirled through the air, stirring his hair. He swallowed hard and his defined jawline tightened briefly. From her vantage point on the sidelines, the sunlight shimmered past him, lighting up his profile; the straight nose, the proud set of the mouth that broke slightly as if to say something. He lashed out into her mind again.

**You broke a promise…**

Oh, no, she had promised…? What? What was is? From the feelings that she was trying to suppress—that weren't hers, as she argued—she felt that it had not been a simple matter of shaking hands on an agreement. This was a commitment, the true meaning of a promise. How could she have broken something so…pure? So…right, natural, and now tainted?

But she could tell that she was still smiling evilly on the outside.

**and made me realize…**

_No…never…_

Sand buried one of her feet in the ever-present wind that was picking up, as well as the changes of scenery. Tree trunks suddenly replaced beach dunes, and the ground was green and spongy underfoot.

**It was all just a lie!**

She literally doubled over from the pain as she carried on in her third-party role. No one could see her, no one could hear her, and what had she done?

_I didn't lie! I didn't! It wasn't…_

_I could never…_

_Why can't he just see…?_

It felt like she was shoved forcibly back into her body and the tidal waves of emotions were five times worse. She was somehow standing upright, still trying to stand her ground, even though her grief was clashing violently with the malignant feelings already residing in the body. She felt like she was about to be torn at the seams, to spill out over the pebble-strewn ground into a stream of mismatched colors.

The man's hand came up. The willful, proud mouth twisted slightly in resentment.

_...that I love him?_

His hand sliced sideways across the air, and although he came nowhere near touching her, his arm seemed to sweep her aside. She literally crumpled as it felt as though he had slashed her across the body and fell to the ankle-deep snow without a sound. The wind shrieked, though it made no noise.

It was all over, and she had lied.

-end flashback-

"Ohhh…" Diana held a hand to her head gingerly. "That's not creepy at all." She tried to smile shakily for Tifa's sake. "What a dream to have." The odd part was that she remembered the entire thing so clearly. Most dreams began to fade as soon as she thought about them.

She did her best to briefly explain to Tifa, who was concerned all over again. Only then, talking about it out loud with a friend to bounce ideas off of, did she realize who it was who had been confronting her.

"And it was so freaky, 'cause I felt like I was just standing by and couldn't even make my voice work how I wanted it to. And all the time he was just looking at me like he wanted to _kill me _and that's weird too, 'cause I know I knew him in the dream, you know how you just know things, you know? But I have absolutely no clue who he actually is, if he even does exist, and I can't even really get a clear mental picture of his face anymore." She wrinkled her nose in annoyance. She felt like that had been important. "All I can really get is a glow from the eyes, and it was this blue-indigo color, almost like mako, I…guess…" She swore. Of course. "Figures," she fumed. "Damned SOLDIER! Stay out of my head while I'm sleeping. Clearly things do not go well when you invade," she grumbled at the ceiling. Was this some kind of perverse attempt of the Goddess's to get thoughts of Zack into her subconscious? 'Cause it sure wasn't working how it was probably supposed to! _Leave it to the deity to screw up the lives of us poor defenseless mortals..._

"Now that's what you call irony." Tifa pulled her knees up to her chest where she was now perched on a stool. She had seen that one coming since Diana had started to describe the man from her dream.

"I thought Aerith was the one with the whole prophetic-dream thing! What about us poor full-humans?" Diana groaned, smacking a hand over her eyes. It was all coming together now. Well, except the 'took my heart' thing. That was just all-around ridiculous. Her name was freaking Loveless, for Gaia's sake! But the lying, it was all there. She just hoped feverishly that it wouldn't come to _that_. The staring match, the pain, the torture, the misunderstanding... "I'll have to make sure it doesn't happen," she began muttering fiercely. Hell no, she wasn't going to let it turn out like that! "Hmph. Whatever. Forget this mess, I'm gonna be late. Cloud!" she barked across the room to her friend. He didn't budge and was definitely still out like a light.

"You asked for it." She raised her eyebrows, planted her feet on the ground, and sprang over to land on the edge of his footboard. Grabbing a thick water-or-whatever pipe crisscrossing over the ceiling, she hooked her knees over it so she was hanging down and able to grab the side of the bed. "Here we go!" she hollered, pulling up hard to send the bed rocking violently to the left.

"Aaaaauuughh!" Cloud was spilled onto the floor like a yelling, angry cat. Make that a ruffled cat, Diana thought, observing his hair as he staggered to his feet and blinked at his friend hanging from the ceiling.

"I don't wanna know."

Tifa giggled in spite of herself.

**A/N: Yay for randomness! :D Betcha can't wait for what I cook up for poor Diana *evil laugh* Hey, my character, my torture methods. No no I'm not that evil. It'll all be good. I'm on a sorta kinda temporary hiatus for the summer, but I think I can get an update in-Internet service cooperating, provided-every couple weeks so I don't _completely _fall off the face of the earth, along with my story. Thanks for reading and understanding and..reviewing? Yeah? I think yes. Peace! ;)**


	17. Cafeteria Madness

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Claims dissed.**

**A/N: Aaaand... here comes the humor chapter to make up for the deep dark doom and despair of desolation of the last one! (Whoa. Someone here has mad alliteration skills.) So this one is about a third as long as I usually post, but trust me, if I added in the next segment, well... just way too long. Hopefully you like it all the same, I'm actually pretty proud of some of these lines :D There's some character/relationship development going on here, so feel free to laugh at these idiots seeing as how a few do in fact belong to my imagination :) Oh, and I just have to warn you - Diana is acting as a guy this entire chapter, so I put it in a third person P.O.V. that doesn't really tap into anyone's thoughts. Nearly everyone there is under the impression that she is in fact Devon, so I use masculine pronouns. Just thought I'd clear that up :) Enjoy and review please!**

**I almost forgot-it'll be quick, I promise-I have been getting TONS of emails telling me that people have added this on Story Alert and everything, so I just think that's really awesome. Thank you so much, I appreciate it a lot. Now read some more! Ta-da...! :D**

**Chapter 17: Cafeteria Madness**

-1200 hours-

"You're twitching again."

'Devon' looked sharply at Shane. "Am not."

"Yah, you are. You've been doing it all day. Problem?"

She made a noncommittal noise. "Just…twitchy. Dunno why, just having an off day."

He hummed in accordance. "I was too, until I saw this idiot in the chocobo stables—"

"Hey! Don't go there! We had an agreement!" Max seethed.

"—and that made it all better."

Max growled and began muttering darkly at no one in particular.

"Dare I ask—" Cloud started.

Max had another spasm and glared fiercely between the blonde and Shane, who had his mouth half-open with an explanation on the tip of his tongue.

"C'mon, guys, drop it." Everyone fell still and quiet at the abnormally serious Zack. That wasn't him. "We shouldn't bug him." And that was definitely not him. He went on with a completely straight face. "If he wants it to be a secret what he's doing in that closet in the chocobo stables with all that tack and cleaning equipment every morning, then so be it."

There was another split second of motionless silence. Max was the first to break it. "What?" he screed, a few octaves higher than was entirely natural. Diana cracked next and slammed her head down onto the table, shaking the whole thing violently in a fit of helpless laughter. Even Shane and Cloud broke down, while Zack struggled to maintain his seriousness and failed miserably.

Max just continued to splutter uselessly, and as a result simply decided to sit and wait for his chance to get back at his superior. He attacked a meatball with more force than was absolutely necessary.

"Forget what actually happened; Porcupine just made my day," Cloud chortled.

"Speak for yourself, Spiky!" Zack faked indignance.

"Jeez, Maxey, what'd that poor lump of meat ever do to you?" Devon peered over Max's shoulder at the mangled explosion on his tray. "Wait, wait…" He hastily glanced at the wide grin slowly spreading across Shane's face. "That did _not _come out right…"

Shane guffawed in response, the pervy gears in his brain working fast. "You know I'll be stuck with cleaning out that stable tonight, right?" he directed at his roommate. He got a muffled grunt to suffice as a reply. Devon groaned at the prospect of Friday night chores. The grunts (no pun intended) were always on one duty or another.

"And what is the Almighty First Class doing tonight?" Max countered, trying on pure luck to hit something worth mocking.

Zack responded with a cocky grin. "Enough."

"Hot date?" the brunette snickered.

At this, Devon choked violently, cursing and thinking that she really had to start learning when to not be eating or drinking during certain conversations.

Cloud and Zack knew exactly the reasons for the outburst, the raven-haired less so but knowledgeable all the same. Zack was just being Zack and didn't really realize this until after he spoke: "Yes, no, maybe so… _Hell _yes!"

Cloud smacked a hand over his face. "Dude."

"What!" He finally noticed that Devon was turning faintly purple. "Whoa there. …Ohh. My bad. Heh."

"'S okay," Devon wheezed. "Carry on."

"You sure you don't have asthma or something?" Shane wrinkled his nose.

Devon just looked at Zack pointedly, who kept grinning with a mixture of sheepishness and insolence. "You explain. Your date." He jabbed a finger in the First's direction.

"Fine, fine. I keep giving Dev heart attacks 'cause the date's with his sister," he sighed dramatically.

"Wha?" Max perked up. "The sister again? How come Zack gets to meet all the good ones?"

Cloud snickered. Devon glared.

"He's the only one who won't slay them all on sight with his dashing good looks. Some of us are just inconvenienced that way." Shane flipped his dark hair extravagantly.

"Au contraire, my friend; I am the master of slayage!"

Diana snorted inside. So funny: girls spent their time acting all self-deprecating and getting their friends to tell them how pretty they were, and guys just smacked each other down as a total joke.

"Hang on, how do you know what she's like?" Cloud was greatly amusing himself by tormenting 'Devon'. "If she and Dev are essentially identical, then…"

"Oh, weird, man! Major weird!" Max gagged slightly. "Not into the bromance thing."

"Ah, you're different, all right." Zack waved a hand at Devon. "I mean, clearly you're a guy, just small and everything, and Di's a regular girl…okay, a highly attractive girl… Sorry, sorry, that's gotta be so awkward for you—"

"Not at all, don't mind me. Nothing I haven't heard before." She was glowing inside. He had said there was a clear difference! And not to mention he had called her...'_attractive'_! She mentally smacked her forehead. _All right, dwell on that later, right now you're just one of the guys. You can freak out to Tifa later._

"Hold everything! What's her name again?" Max intervened.

"Diana. Di." Devon elucidated.

"Yeah, and she's probably really hot, to boot…" Shane said under his breath.

"I heard tha—" Zack suddenly froze and the cerulean eyes widened, focusing on something far away. "Oh, shit on a stick! Hide me!"

"Huh?" Cloud leaned toward him to look over his shoulder and follow his line of sight across the cafeteria and to a doorway that was currently occupied by what looked like trouble personified.

When Devon surreptitiously stole a glance to his right, he came to the same conclusion. And when he looked back…no Zack. Then something tugged on his ankle. His leg immediately shot up and he banged his knee hard on the underside of the table, nearly lifting part of the table off the floor.

"Shh! I'm not here!" came Zack's voice from under said table. This definitely wasn't awkward at all, nope…

A pair of high heels clicked ominously toward them. A slender yet curvy woman with red hair almost comparable to Reno's (excepting the fact that it was a blatant dye job, of course) strutted past, hands on hips, clearly seeking someone out. Multiple pairs of eyes of other someones seemed to have found her with perfect ease, but no one she was interested in at the moment, apparently, because she exited with as much if not more presence than she had entered with.

"Whew…" A hand appeared and grasped the edge of the table next to Cloud. Zack heaved himself back onto the bench. "Alas, my days are numbered while Scarlet is around."

"What'd you do?" Devon inquired. Can we say danger? My Goddess. That's a human disaster waiting to happen that just walked out that door.

"Rather what I won't do."

"Why in the hell not? That's practically blasphemy—"

"Not all of us are as creepy as you are, Max."

"I'm not creepy, I'm just saying—"

Zack shuddered and cut him off. "I got in trouble when I was, like, fifteen, for 'fooling around with staff members'… She practically molested me and that's the thanks I get…"

"Wait, staff? I didn't know Shinra kept prostitutes," Cloud almost visibly shrank down.

"Oh, no, she's a secretary. Rufus Shinra just enjoys her company a little too much for the overall well-being of the world." Zack raised his eyebrows. Devon noticed that the look in Zack's eyes was becoming increasingly absent and that he was being led farther off into space with each passing moment.

"Thought he was playing for the other team," Shane put in.

"Well, evidently not," Cloud shivered.

"I think she has a great…personality," Max chose to put in musingly.

"I should call her," Zack mused, looking at the ceiling.

"Hell, what?" Devon looked at him in horror.

"Hm? Oh, I meant Di. I should call her."

There was a collective "Ohhhhh."

"Whatcha doing together today?" Devon seemed fine with the idea.

Being Zack meant having the kind of brain that can keep track of a conversation while being completely out of it and have it played back belatedly before responding. "Lessee, if we're gonna get there by that time, we need to be in Sector Five by then, and here to there is… Got it! Oh, I'll fill you in after it happens." He grinned mischievously, pulling out his PHS and hitting Tifa's speed dial. It went to voicemail after a moment. "Hey Di, it's Zack…"

Diana had to seriously work to keep a straight face. Here he was, leaving a voicemail for her while she was sitting not three feet away.

"…So I'll see ya at six, be ready to travel!" he was laughing, and hung up.

Travel? Hm… This was going to be interesting, and probably massively fun.

"Ooooooh…" Max and Shane chorused impudently.

Diana got the feeling that she was going to be extra energetic during the afternoon's training.

**A/N: You like it...? Hahaha oh what are we going to do with these people? (So many closets, so little time.) I thought that was a rather fun ride. See, I AM keeping up the updates over the summer! I feel proud :) I hope you liked it, tell me yay or nay in a review! Fantastic! It's that button right there. Yup, in the middle...HAH! Got it! Wicked. I'll see you all soon hopefully. Thank you so much for keeping up with me! :)**


	18. Ass Over Teacup?

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: run4life: "So the large bald man says that I don't own Final Fantasy-"**

**UltimateFreedom: "Wait! The large-balled man?"**

**run: "Yeah-wait, oh, gross, Ultimate! Well, either way, the cactus says I don't own it either, so..."**

**Ultimate: "Wait-MY cactus named Cloud 'cause he's got spiky hair?"**

**run: "Of course your cactus! Now can I get on with it or not? I hafta get to second already-"**

**Ultimate: "What's that? Get to second-?"**

**run: "Oh, shut it!"**

**A/N: Yes, I am updating! :D At one thirty-one in the morning! :D With UltimateFreedom (shock)! :D Soooo another little crack slight sidestory for you... Yes, they will eventually go on their lovely date! They go, don't worry! You shall see! I'm using a lot of exclamation points! Okay, well, enjoy, gotta go jump out a window with Ultimate now! XD We have Way. Too. Much. Fun.**

**Chapter 18: Ass Over Teacup?**

-~-1600 hours-~-

"_Tifaaaaa_!" Diana pounded on her friend's door frantically. As soon as it was barely slivered open, she burst through and slammed it behind her. A normal person would have been panting but she just sighed in relief. "I knew I should've waited to change. Group of guys started stalking me on the way here."

"…Fun?" Tifa remarked, having backed away fast.

"Decidedly not." She hefted a bag off her shoulder and plonked it on the couch. "All my girl stuff," she said, walking to the sink to wash off something nasty she'd encountered stuck to a door handle on the way there.

"Well, first off, you gotta stop walking like a guy," Tifa raised an eyebrow.

"Oh…Oh, am I?"

"Yeah. Your strides don't need to be so long, and you don't need to, uh, wave your arms around so much, or whatever." She waved her hands up and down, indicating Diana's posture.

"Right, right, ugh." She jumped up and down a couple times, shaking her arms out.

"Hey, most girls don't have to unlearn being a guy." Tifa kept giving her that Look. "What do you have to tell me? It's practically rolling off you in waves."

"Ohh! I totally forgot!" Diana all but bounced across the room, smiling like her face was going to stretch sideways if she tried hard enough. "Today during lunch break, Zack said—yeah, I know, any sentence starting with that name is good if I do say so myself—"

"Most definitely."

"—and I _quote_— "clearly you're a guy, just short, and Di's a regular girl". Wait, wait, that's not it!" she hopped up and down as Tifa cried out jubilantly. ""—a _highly attractive _girl"." She made air quotes.

"Are you _serious_?" Tifa caught the giggle bug and started jumping around with her friend. "That's _amazing_!"

"_I know_ but if I think about it any more I'll start overanalyzing and going insane so do you have anything for me to keep busy with?" Diana pleaded. She knew herself that well, at least.

"Absolutely. I'll teach you the art of the kitchen," Tifa grinned, cocking her head toward the open doorway across the room. "If you're not already acquainted."

Diana rolled her eyes. "I do scrambled eggs and bacon and general common sense, and that's about it, unless you count frozen pizza. Breakfast, by the way, is a really good bribe for guys, did you know that? Works on Max every single time." She shook her head fondly at the thought of her insane roommates.

"Mmmm-hm, trust me. I was going to make stir fry for dinner, there are noodles out and vegetables, you can start chopping if you want." Tifa eyed her deadly but klutzy friend. "Well, on second thought, you with a knife…"

Diana laughed. "Hey, don't judge! I'm good with knives. Really." Tifa didn't look too convinced, but her comeback was cut off by the sound of voices outside the door.

"You do it!"

"Just grow and pair and knock on the freaking door!"

"I'll do it for you—"

"Why don't you—"

"Eh…I'll leave you to that." Diana hurried into the mini kitchen, guessing at who was at the door. Did men have to think with their penises absolutely all the time? She picked up a large knife and contemplated the onion that she'd pulled out of the grocery bag. The plastic crinkled as she shoved the bag into a bin, trying to remember which direction the rings went from on an onion. Stupid, yes, but slightly confusing if one had only had onions, much less actually cooked with them, a few times due to an unsupportive home environment for the crop. _Oh. Right. Duh. This way. There we go…_

Tifa sighed and opened the door once somebody 'grew the balls' to knock. There were whispers, contemplations, and Looks. Oh. That Look. What a lovely Look to be receiving…not.

One of the several young men addressed her. Well, in truth, he addressed her chest, but it was all the same if she wanted to be optimistic about it. "Is there - do you have a friend staying here?"

She leaned against the doorframe while another SOLDIER tried to peer past her and into the apartment. "Who wants to know?"

He gave her a cocky smile. "Just out and looking around and we've gone and found somebody we wanna get acquainted with."

Oh, jeez. Gross. These guys were harmless, underneath, but they were also men who were not thinking with their brains at the moment.

"I see," was the monotonic, dry response, the implications of which evidently went unnoticed.

"So tell us. Your friend still around?" The speaker leaned forward, arms crossed.

As if on cue, a shriek issued from the back of the apartment and Tifa's burgundy eyes widened infinitesimally as she stayed perfectly still. The group of men looked over and around her, some in apprehension, some in amusement, some in eagerness, or a combination.

Diana stumbled, or flew was more like it, out of the kitchen, missing the doorway on the first try and smacking into the doorframe. This was presumably due to the fact that she had one hand clamped over her own eyes and one flailing blindly and uselessly in front of her. "AAAAGGHH, DAMMIT, MOTHERF***INGSONOFAB****WHATTHE***********!" Her creatively colorful compounds would have made Cid Highwind proud. She promptly ran into and flipped clear over a table and sat on the floor with a whump, rubbing her eyes grumpily until she was able to see again. She was looking up, about to say something, when she noticed the pack of males looking, no, staring, no, gaping at her. "Can I help you?" she blinked out of reflex, rubbing at her right eye again in irritation.

"Can _you _help _us_, is the question." One standing behind the one in front raised an eyebrow mischievously. Ah, shit. She didn't even know these guys. Just some random SOLDIERs. Wait…that one…

"Kunsel?"

He met her gaze quickly, having been looking around, brown eyes muddy despite the usual glow of mako as a result of the treatments. He frowned, just a little. "Do I, uh, know you?" he muttered, suddenly a bit shy and caught off guard. Maybe she did look familiar…but from where, was the question?

She realized her mistake and quickly clamped her mouth shut, clambering off the floor and brushing herself off like it was perfectly normal to be running out of the kitchen screaming. Damned onions. She offered a hand to Kunsel. "Diana Loveless. Sister of Devon."

Ohh. That was it. The small kid from the night at Zack's, well, later on the roof. That kid was an absolute riot! Now what was his sister doing around here?

The other three young men—Seconds by the look of their uniforms—looked a little miffed at the immediate recognition. Possibly jealous. Which was ridiculous, anyhow. Maybe they were drunk? Sadly, not too unlikely an option.

"Well! It was lovely to see you all but we've got stuff to do," _and I don't normally associate with stalkers_, "so…" Diana took a look at their defeated expression and felt just a little guilty. "Don't look so depressed. We'll be around awhile. See you around!" She waved cheerily and tried not to close the door too hastily.

"What the hell was that?" Diana hissed at Tifa in case they were still nearby.

"Not stalkers," her friend all but read her mind, "just men thinking with something other than their minds."

"Huh? Oh. Right, right. Got it. Yeah. Still."

"Well, for one thing, if you hadn't come shooting out of the kitchen, ass over teacup like a bat out of hell…" Tifa hummed, somewhat accusatorily.

"Hey! Something was making my eyes sting…weirdly!"

Tifa sighed. "Sweetie, that's the onions. There's this chemical in them that makes you tear up."

"Well, I don't like it," Diana grumbled. _I don't cry. _"Friggin' unnatural…" she muttered, easing her way back into the danger zone known as the kitchen.

"C'mon. Let's go."

"Yeah, okay, but, like, those veggies are giving me, like, the evil eye…"

"You just used 'like' twice in one sentence. You are officially in need of de-stressing," Tifa announced, giving her friend the 'I'm-seeing-straight-through-into-your-soul' look. "Okay. We'll cook. I'll teach. You just focus, no, scratch that, don't focus, on unwinding. Capiche?"

"Capiche. But how is that anti-stressful?"

"Cooking is actually relaxing, if you trust yourself enough."

"Oh. Fantastic. This is gonna end well."

"Shush. You're being overly pessimistic. Another sign. Now let's go. _Attack _that onion."

* * *

Diana was humming happily, very much appeased by now, while Tifa tossed things in a pan on the stove.

"Here, grab a broom. You made a mess by the sink," Tifa scolded teasingly, nodding toward the corner.

"Heh. Oops." Diana made a face at the explosion of vegetable peelings that decorated the linoleum. Brooms hated her. They had a tendency to try to kill her at inconvenient times. "Jeez, I'm horrible at this whole keeping-the-house thing. I had to do it growing up, but that's one thing that practice never helped!" she snorted a laugh.

"I pity your future husband."

"Yeah, so do I—ugh. Don't remind me." Diana shuddered. "I didn't wanna think about that when I was four, nor nine, nor fifteen, and honestly, now less than ever. I always was the tomboy," she mused. "Well. Still am, really."

"You? Nah, I couldn't imagine…" Tifa cracked up at the irony.

"I can't bring myself to argue, honestly." She swept the last bits into the garbage and checked the gas stove, making sure the flame hadn't gone out.

"Why do you keep checking the fire?" Tifa asked her, drying her hands on a dishcloth.

Diana was oddly flippant and straightforward about her reasons. "Dev and I accidentally almost gassed ourselves when we were younger. Never realized that the flame didn't catch, so only the gas was running until he was smart enough to look." She grimaced. "He was always the one with the common sense. Book smarts? Not so much," she laughed, shaking her head.

Tifa secretly marveled at her friend's ability to stay so outwardly strong about someone so close whom she had lost. She was sure that Di cracked at times, but she never let anyone see, that was for sure. Well, except for that one time in the dorm. But that had been an issue over her place in the world, not her brother's death. Still.

"—Occasion? Having Cloud over?" Diana was asking her.

"Yeah. He was mocking my culinary abilities the other day so I said I'd show him!" she laughed.

"That's…sweet," Diana murmured with a small smile. Those two were so happy together. Not to mention gorgeous, and fun, and utterly perfect.

There was yet another knock on the door as soon as Tifa hopped up on the counter.

"Got it!" Diana jumped up, skidding across the slippery floor to fling the door open a little harder than she'd intended, grinning.

"Hey, Di."

And there stood Zack Fair in all his perfection. _Whoa, hang on. Chill. Don't go insane over the poor guy just yet, girl. _His hands were deep in the pockets of his jeans, the sleeves of his gray shirt pushed up to his elbows. The overall effect, if simple, was good for him.

"Hi, Zack." She was still grinning like an idiot, of course. "Wanna come in for a minute or do we have time constraints?"

"Sure, and nope, not tonight," he announced happily, stepping over the threshold. "Freedom is sweet."

"'Sup."

"Hey, Teef. Cloud coming?"

"Yup. Knowing him…five minutes?" she glanced at the clock. Six exactly.

"Well then, we should get going. I've got a choice for you," he smiled eagerly at Diana, who had started to float in a little bit of a happy haze despite the nagging sense of impending conversational awkwardness.

"Hm? What's that?"

"We can go local or non-local."

"Non. More exciting." She bit her lip in anticipation.

"Yes!" he punched the air, the stilted, almost-awkward air broken. "Okay, so then to get there—"

"Bikes are cool."

"—yeah, or if you want—hang on, what? Did you just read my mind?" he laughed.

"Yeah, I'm a psychic. Secret spy, actually," she kidded, keeping a straight face before breaking it.

"I like it. Well then, see ya, Teef!" Zack snagged Diana by the hand and led the way, catching her by surprise. Well, it was a pleasant surprise. It seemed like Zack hardly thought anything of half the things that he did, and that was just the way he worked.

"Have fun!" Tifa called from the kitchen. _More than a little fun, please…_ she thought mischievously.

**A/N: Finally we're getting some action here! Hahaha next chapter shall be _quite _interesting. I promise. Hope you liked the continuing random crack humor. Haha I'll see you again soon and hope you didn't feel too much of an urge to come after me with torches and pitchforks! Bye now, time to go dance in the backyard. Thanks for reading, and please drop me a line! :)**


	19. Plastic, Blue Eyes, and Thirds

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: If I owned FFVII, _I _would be the one in Diana's place. ;)**

**A/N: Hopefully this chapter is as much fun as a date with Zack Fair sounds to be. (Well, okay, so maybe that's an unfairly high comparison to make...) I wish you the best in enjoying it :) But first, if you wanna listen to me being dumb for a second... I found a discrepency in my facts :O As you may or may not know, I've never actually played FFVII, and somehow misread in a Wikipedia article that Kalm is a small town similar to Nibelheim, located on the northern continent. Hence my references in one of Diana and Tifa's early conversations. Uh, _wrong_. I checked a map and decided I'm still somewhat satisfied with where Diana's hometown really is, if a little closer to Midgar than I'd originally intended. So use your imaginations... for my purposes, Kalm is somewhat of a mountain town in the northern part of the Eastern Continent with a climate similar to that of Nibelheim. Thank for attempting to understand how my mind works :) and back to the story.**

**Chapter 19: Plastic, Blue Eyes, and Thirds**

Diana marveled at how easy it was to carry on a one-on-one conversation with Zack. He was so impulsive, so utterly _random_, that any weird tangent that came to mind was completely acceptable. She found herself remembering things that she had actually forgotten to mention on the last topic. She even almost found herself forgetting she was on a real date, even while they were out at dinner at a small, out-of-the-way but good place…well, okay, maybe the occasional jealous looks from other girls her age that were shot her way made it obvious. The blatant label of 'date' got a little harder to ignore once they picked up his motorcycle.

They had had to go under the plate, into the slums, after Diana had reassured Zack that she didn't mind and that she wanted to see as much of Midgar as she could. The motorcycle—it was supposedly similar to Cloud's much-famed-and-discussed Fenrir—was kept in storage in Sector Five, and Zack had become oddly paranoid about her safety by this point.

"Look, honestly, I'm fine! It's nothing," she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"If I didn't have an extra helmet…" he muttered, unusually dour for the moment.

"But you do, so it's alright. Okay? I never took you for the overly cautious type," she said placatingly.

_When it's you_, Zack found himself thinking before he brushed it away hurriedly. "You got me." He smiled, swinging one long leg over the bike and turning to look back at her. She laughed and hopped on behind him before realizing (awkwardly) that she had no clue what to do with her hands. She tentatively touched his back.

He let out a throaty laugh in response. "I don't bite! Honestly."

"You, be honest? Really, now," she joked, partially to cover for her slight embarrassment. She carefully wrapped her arms around his strong torso, and after a second, they took off.

It was _fun_! She found herself even more jealous that half her friends owned bikes and she in comparison hadn't even been let near them at home. Riding was like what she imagined driving fast with the hood down would be like, only it felt more like..._freedom_. It was so easy to maneuver, and they could get anywhere they wanted with minimal hassle. Di finally even convinced Zack to start to teach her to drive the thing. Okay, so she swore that traffic light was yellow. Not red. It was about to turn red, but she made it through on yellow. Zack just kept muttering that she was lucky they hadn't seen any cops yet.

As they navigated around the city streets with Zack back in control, she noted that they were definitely exiting the city. How cool was that? She wondered what place Zack had in mind.

It turned out to be actually somewhat of a 'no place'. There was a rocky outcrop a couple miles from the city, on a hill, and Zack unexpectedly decelerated and parked cautiously. Diana dismounted in one motion and looked away from the city, toward the hills. It was awfully barren out there, desert-like. Hard to believe there were cities with such different climates from this not too far away.

Even her reflexes barely warned her when Zack was standing directly behind her. "Wrong way," he joked, taking her shoulders gently, and she let him pivot her back toward Midgar.

It was a sight anyone should see at least once. The green glow of the eight mako reactors on the plate made it look haloed, and there was a sunset, made more vibrant by the pollution of the city, straight across on the far side.

Diana looked up and back at him accusingly. "No fair—you're too good a planner." She reached up, seemingly without thought, to hold his right hand on her shoulder.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he replied, looking back at the emerald eyes that were somehow such a different color from the mako that filled the air in the distance. She turned, smiling, to behold the view again, and her wavy hair swirled over her shoulders. Without warning she folded herself to the ground, obviously intending on staying awhile. Zack smiled. Well, it was his intention, after all. He got the rare feeling that he could stay here for quite a while and never get tired of it, and he sat down next to her.

They talked on and on, and Diana found herself giving in to it. Here, now, she didn't have to keep up any facades. She was free to be simply herself, who she was by nature and who she used to be, in some ways. Of course, there was no way to rewrite history or bring back the further reaches of the past, but she could just let it all melt off of her and forget time, forget her very identity, everything except the person next to her. They talked about nothing particularly important, laughing often.

It was an odd sensation. She had been feeling on her own for so long, her real self hidden from the world by the pretense of literally being a different person. She was supposed to become a new person, but it felt more like she had been _made_ new. Almost as if in a factory, spitting out impenetrable shells of people devoid of real emotion. Sometimes, she could become more real, but she felt like some kind of plastic doll yearning for a real heart to fill the space that had never seen anything but that: emptiness. Yet somehow it was that much harder to think of having to let go of people who were now in her life. She didn't want to lose anyone else. Hadn't she lost enough?

All of a sudden, sitting there, she realized that she desperately needed those who she would refuse to let go. And she didn't want them to let _her_ go. She wanted them all right beside her, and she finally realized so. That was how to gain a real heart, to fill a space, to break out of a confining plastic shell. Just because she was someone new...didn't mean she wasn't still _someone_. And she wasn't just anyone: she was herself.

She was enjoying herself immensely. Not that she wouldn't, but it had been a long, long time since anything had caused her to feel the glowing happiness that was radiating out from what seemed to be her core, or maybe it was her heart. Far too long of a time.

* * *

"Zack?"

"Hm?"

"Is that…a scar, there?"

"Oh, this?" He fingered the X-shaped mark low on the left side of his face.

"Yeah."

He gave her a small smile, trying not to scare her off with some weird story. He felt like he had to be so careful, like she had limited exposure to his world and he had to handle her with care. Of course, she wasn't naïve or even particularly sheltered, but he felt like he wanted to keep some of the uglier parts of life away from her if possible. It was an odd emotion to feel. He blamed it on a combination of testosterone and inborn instincts. "I made…a stupid mistake, on a mission, a while ago. It reminds me of the little details that matter." After a pause, he lightened the mood again. "As long as we're playing twenty questions this way, will you tell me where you picked that up, pretty one?" He gestured at her own face.

_Wow, set myself up for that one, all right._ "This?" She tried not to make it a nervous laugh. _Get it together! You've acted before, haven't you? But Zack's not the same, for some reason._ It almost felt like trying to fib to Tifa. Yeah, that was it. ...Almost. "An accident, too. I know, not very exciting, but I don't really remember it. I was really young." _And did you just call me pretty?_

"I thought it was appropriate."

Huh? Oh, dang it all, she really had to stop with the thinking-out-loud issue. "I – I don't get that a lot." Goddess, was she actually blushing?

"Why not? I keep saying, people need to tell the truth more often in this world." He was still half kidding around. He knew he was being truthful, of course, but still maintained an airy expression.

She quietly giggled. _Giggled?_ "I'm just not used to it."

"I'll have to say it more," he continued flirtatiously, leaning back on his hands. They were seated side by side on the ground, facing the rapidly fading sun. He took in a quick breath and pointed eagerly at the horizon all of a sudden. "Watch, watch!"

"Yes, Puppy?" she teased, forgetting that she wasn't supposed to know his nickname.

"Hey, how do you—just look! Wait for it…"

She looked intently past Midgar, at the darkening sky. And she waited. As the last glimmer of sunlight disappeared, a sudden bright flash of color lit up half the sky and she gave a little gasp. What was _that_? ...What _was_ that?

"The mako in the atmosphere," Zack smiled. He knew she had seen it. "Not many people see the flash. Normal human eyes are too slow. But apparently you caught it." He gave her a sidelong look.

"Oh, I am _not _normal!" she started to laugh.

"You're right—I knew that-why did I question myself?" he mused.

"Hey, that doesn't give you the right to abuse the knowledge," she laughed more.

All of a sudden, Zack gasped overdramatically. "…_Chocobo_!"

Blink. Then she burst into a full bout of unbridled hysterics. "Ex-ex-excuse me?" she gasped, holding her ribs and trying not to fall over sideways.

"There! There! Look!" he pointed excitedly yet again, this time off to the south, to their left.

She snapped to her feet quickly, stepping a couple feet in the direction he was indicating and shading her eyes, still chuckling. "Where, Zack?" It was more common for the birds to be seen here than in Kalm, for example, and in all seriousness, she really liked the funny animals.

"_There_! To your left, no, a little right…" He was getting inconveniently sidetracked by her pacing, which drew way more attention to her backside than was absolutely fair. It was plenty enough to distract him, he thought somewhat grudgingly. Still, he wasn't exactly complaining. He was a man, what could he say.

"I don't know what you're looking at with your super vision," she plonked back down next to him lazily, "but I don't see any chocobos."

"Good, 'cause I can hardly see it myself. It's probably only a mirage, anyway."

"What? Then why'd you ask me if-?"

"I just wanted to see if you could, uh, see."

She continued to look at him skeptically. _Now that made absolutely no sense whatsoever._

The emerald depths drew him in and eventually shamed him into telling the truth. "Okay, okay, so I wanted to see if you would lie to go along with it."

"But…for what purpose? Seems kinda petty, doncha think?" Diana cocked her head to the side.

"A simple test." He smiled. "I've had some bad experiences…and I don't like lies. If you're willing to conform to what looks to be expected of you with something as simplistic as that, it says something about you."

So he had his ideals. Diana liked that a lot, but the detail in which he described it was creepily ironic. "What if, hypothetically…what if the lie isn't so trivial? What if it's to protect – someone?" she swallowed hard.

"Well. I guess…that depends," he murmured, unusually deep in thought and thankfully not picking up on the very non-hypothetical tone of her voice. Diana's momentary worries faded a little and she fingered the necklace at her throat that she always wore.

The easily distracted Puppy noticed her movements. "Where did you get that? I feel like I've seen one like it before."

"Oh—oh, this? I've had it as long as I can remember. Dev has the same one." It wasn't a complete…_lie_. Ugh. Oh, well. Like Zack had said: it depended on the situation, she thought defensively.

"Ohh, I see." Zack contemplated the two charms that dangled from the cord: one was circular, and the other was a square. They looked exotic, unusual, for the designs delicately scripted out on them. Almost subconsciously, he reached to hold the pendant in his hand, making Diana lean toward him considerably. She scooted closer to him, feeling the pleasant heat radiating off his body. It was awfully nice, in the fading warmth that was making its disappearance along with the sun.

"Unusual," he murmured, trancelike. That was the effect that the inscriptions had on anyone who spent too long trying to figure them out. Diana had never quite understood why. Maybe she could ask Aerith… It was some ancient language or something. Aerith was a Cetra, right? Maybe she could tell her if it meant something interesting… She knew without a doubt that these tangent thoughts were just her mind's attempt to distract her from the fact that Zack's face was only inches from her own. Unerringly, the indigo eyes flicked up to catch hers. He half-smirked suddenly. "You're blushing," he murmured, trying not to sound gloating.

"I am not," she almost huffed, except she was finding it harder to breathe.

"So stubborn." His lips hardly moved with the words.

"Speak for yourself." It was, sadly, all she could manage.

"I'd rather not. For the moment." His eyes momentarily unfocused and refocused, then he got determined.

"Zack—?" And with the word, her mouth moved just enough to come into brushing contact with his. She short-circuited from there on.

Zack looked nearly as surprised as she did at first, then he suppressed a grin and moved his hand to catch her chin.

Shock. Just shock. Pure shock at being kissed by Zack. A few milliseconds after her senses caught up with her, she reached for him as well and her hand moved from his shoulder to trace up his neck and catch in his dark hair.

Zack found himself having to be the one to break it off, the taste of victory lingering. In a very Zack-like manner, he only grinned broadly and leaned back on his hands again.

Diana was forced to ask him, still almost breathy, "What are you all smiley about?"

"I'm happy."

"I…see that. So am I…?" When she kept looking at him quizzically, he laughed.

"You like me."

"Zack." He zeroed in on the sound of his name rolling off her tongue, and nearly missed the rest of the sentence. "Of course I like you." She couldn't look him straight in the eye; not because she didn't mean it, but she just wasn't great with the whole emotional thing, while in contrast Zack seemed to be perfectly fine with it, even for a guy.

"I know." He turned directly to her, effectively recapturing her green-blue gaze. "I just wanted to be sure you knew it, too."

* * *

Diana never figured out how exactly she made it back to the dorm after night had fallen and Zack had returned her to Tifa's upon her request. Opening her door clumsily, she touched her fingers to her lips in wonder. Zack had kissed her again at the door.

_"Are you okay? Don't pass out on me, okay?" Tifa had said._

_"No, no, I… S'good… Who?" She was dazed, that was for sure._

_Tifa smiled suddenly. Not like she didn't know what had happened, but she had noticed something…interesting. "Your eyes are blue," she commented._

Like she'd be able to sleep now.

But eventually, a blissful drowsy haze took over her extremely heightened senses, and she fell into a seemingly dreamless sleep.

* * *

Zack began to smile, lying in bed staring at the fine contours of the ceiling that only eyes like his could discern in the dark.

_He took her back to Tifa's. Diana slowed as they approached the door, and he not-so-accidentally brushed against her back. He could feel her tense slightly, the nerves running haywire up and down her spine. He allowed himself a smile. What could he say? He liked to make people nervous. Even if they would never admit to it, as was the case with the stubbornness that Di so dutifully maintained._

_Diana turned to him at the threshold, thanking him and telling him that she had had a fantastic time. He agreed wholeheartedly and began staring her down until she would meet his gaze directly. Then, slowly, carefully, he tilted her face up to his again and kissed her. It was too brief a time, he thought. He cherished it all the more and somewhat regretfully walked away, leaving her in another adorable state of mild shock. He sensed the wide, beautiful blue-green eyes watching him go._

Zack smiled again. It had been a good day, for sure.

* * *

When Max had to shake Diana awake in the morning, her hands shot to her midsection to yank up something a bit like a tube top that had been wrinkled down around her stomach area as she slept. It was a corset-like contraption she had put together the other day, to prevent being taken by surprise like that time with Zack—

_Zack_. Oh, holy holy holy… She didn't even know what. At this rate, she wouldn't even be able to look at him! Of course she wanted to, just…she was supposedly a guy, and straight!

_Okay. Calm down. Take it in stride. Just chill. You can handle it. You can handle being kissed twice by the equivalent of a freaking god and then waking up and pretending to be one of his friends. Right. It's all good here._

"Up! I'm up! All right! Let's go, Cloudy, face the day!" She sprang up and across the room, jumping on Cloud. He moaned in response and mumbled something that translated roughly to 'piss off' in sleep-person speak. "Come on, let's go! Carpe freaking diem already!"

"Mrrrrgh. Why so—" yawn— "_happy_?"

"Dunno. But get up!" She grinned uncontrollably, knowing it was because of last night but not about to reveal that bit of information just yet, and certainly not in present company.

* * *

"Today…is somewhat of a special day, if you wanna call it that." Zack looked around at the neat rows of uniformed cadets, unusually somber for the occasion. "The results of a certain important test have come in."

There was one of those silences that only occur because it is taken that no one is supposed to speak, yet even the background sounds of each human's body seems to disappear into the utter stillness. What test? Results? 'Important'? What were they all missing here?

"You've all been staying here, working, training, for five to six weeks, personally depending. This is when we decide whether you will become a part of SOLDIER or not." He let his words sink in, hating all the formality. Leave it to Angeal to shove a job like this down his Puppy's throat.

Holy shit. Every single cadet in that room, Diana swore, broke out in a cold sweat. This was what they had all been dreaming about, maybe for years, maybe for a lifetime. All they had been focused on, underneath it all. Now it was judgment day: quite literally.

"There is no formal test for undertaking the responsibilities of a SOLDIER. We've been watching you all, all along, waiting and analyzing. So, based on that, I have a list." He waved a piece of paper dramatically. "Yeah, lame, I know, but this was the best way they could think to do this," he muttered. "I'm, uh, gonna hafta just do this the traditional way and read the names, so, yes, you want your name called. If you are on this list, you will enter the Shinra Army as a SOLDIER Third Class. Stay here for following information. If you're not called, you may return to your dorms. You will continue on your own path, as a Shinra infantryman. You're not out of the running forever. We are constantly analyzing your progress. And you're not a grunt forever, I promise." He gave a half-laugh. "Guess I'll go ahead, then." He ruffled his hair and cleared his throat. "Azarius, Shane. Bellamy, Matthias…" He went on, and on… "Fenning, Maximilian…" That was Max, and Shane! Good for them, Diana thought happily. It might have been her imagination, but his eyes seemed to light up a little more when he read the names of his friends, like "Loveless, Devon…" Wait! Hold on, hold on, hold on! DID HE JUST CALL MY NAME? He _had_! Holy Goddess, thank you, thank you thank you how can I thank you? She nearly lost it then and there. She had DONE IT. She had freaking _DONE IT_!

"…Strife, Cloud…"

Her mind was complete gibberish—Cloud? That was awesome!—in an endlessly spiraling vortex of phrases and emotions that threatened to bubble over any second, fighting without quarter against the restraints that held them back.

She was pretty sure she was going to go legitimately, completely, irreversibly batshit insane if she had to stand still and silent for another moment...

There were, quite simply, no words.

* * *

"TIFA! TIFATIFATIFATIFATIFAAAAAAA!" Diana screamed, barging into her friend's apartment to share her news.

"Di! What's—"

"I FREAKING MADE SOLDIER THAT'S WHAT'S UP!"

"… WHAT?"

"I'M SERIOUS! …I KNOW!"

"AHHHHH! And…Cloud?"

"_YES_!"

Tifa shrieked loudly again.

They were both reduced to screaming and jumping around once they realized that all four of the dorm group were good to go. Three men. ...And one secret woman. Things were just getting better all the time.

A few minutes later, the two females had calmed down a bit. "So…" Tifa started cautiously. "Still not planning on coming out?"

Diana shook her head fiercely. "Nope. Definitely not. I've gotta get even better, then later on, I'll show them all!"

Tifa caught the infectious smile. "Alright then. You. Are. Amazing."

**A/N: Lot going on here :D Awesome stuff! So the date was pretty much a rolling success, and the SOLDIER thing just makes life amazing :) Thanks for reading and review please! Next chapter: what do college-age guys do when something big happens...? Go to a bar! Brace yourself for extreme hilarity and crack. :D**


	20. Real Interesting, Real Fast

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I don't own a bar...so I don't think I can own FFVII this chapter...although there may just be a loophole somewhere...**

**A/N: Long Chapter Alert! Haha as promised I have in fact updated within the week *collective gasp* Yeah, I know, pretty cool, isn't it? ;) Anyhoo, also as promised, well, the chocobo's out of the bag now-our favorite heroes are going barhopping. Everyone hold onto their pants. Be prepared for crack humor followed by a little tidbit of the past...hmm *thoughtfully rubs chin*...followed by more crack. YAY! Just a side note: reading other peoples' fantabulous stories, I've realized that most of the time, Shinra HQ is represented as one tall building with multiple floors, and you don't usually go outside... Well, what can I say, I like to change it up! I visualize it more as a college campus type of thing, with separate buildings and walls and all. This will end up being important next chapter :) But for now, enjoy this one and review if you do so wish to make me extremely happy! :)**

**Chapter 20: Real Interesting, Real Fast**

When 'Maximilian' paraded into the dorm, Shane in tow as always, Cloud looked up in apprehension. (He ignored the corner of his mind that was still snickering at finding out his friend's given name. Thank the Goddess they didn't have to include middle names. That could have gotten very embarrassing, very fast.) Whatever the two of them had plotted or were plotting to plot in the near future, he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted a part in it just yet.

"So on account of US BEING SOLDIERS NOW," he fairly yelled for emphasis, "we've decided to join the group going out tonight. You in?"

Cloud gave him a wary look, despite the little thrill that he felt in the pit of his stomach at the thought that he was _actually a SOLDIER_. "Depends. Where ya going?"

"Bar in Sector Seven—"

He snorted. "Figures."

"—known as Seventh Heaven."

His head snapped up.

"—which happens to be owned by a certain lady—"

He groaned. "Fine, fine, I'm coming! Ya got me."

Shane punched the air in victory. "Knew you'd agree to it once we put it that way. Where's Dev? We gotta get him outta here, man."

Cloud shrugged, happier now with the thought of visiting the bar again. Heck, he didn't have to even hang out with the guys. He could help Tifa run the place if she needed an extra hand with the Saturday night crowd. "Dunno. Training room, maybe?"

The two finally located Devon in one of the gyms with Zack and an observing Kunsel Tilling.

"What are they doing?" Max peered at the blur of movements, even his well-trained eyes not able to completely register the sequence that was being practiced.

"Honestly? Annoying me," Kunsel laughed anyway. "Hey, you two! Quit defying all the laws of physics and gravity and get over here!"

Zack and Devon sprang apart, landing in crouches with identical grins of satisfaction on their faces. "Nice one," Zack cocked his head at his shorter friend, breathing a little hard.

"More than same to you," Devon directed back, panting more than his superior.

"Were you _sparring _with each other?" Max tried and failed to cover a gape.

"Pre-coordinated moves, but yeah. It's wicked good, really gets you used to patterns and reactions. Plus you can modify it to make it work better for you." Devon grinned. "'Specially when you're little."

"Freaks," Shane muttered.

"So!" Max interrupted, "Most of the new Thirds," he grinned massively, "are going out tonight; Tifa's bar. You in?"

"Er…jeez, I mean, I dunno…" Devon fidgeted, suddenly the slightest bit uncomfortable for some unseen reason. "It'll be fun, I guess, but…uh…well, I…" He was stuttering ridiculously by now. "I'll see… Talk to you guys later, I gotta go…" He spun and walked off quickly.

Zack tilted his head to the side. "What was that?"

Kunsel shrugged. "Beats me. Hey, anyway, you guys were looking really good. I think the adjustments to that one part really did it, keeping in mind you're a First and he's so much smaller…"

* * *

Tifa contemplated her yet-again-pacing friend. The poor girl needed another excuse, again, for an absence.

"I can't get even mildly buzzed, there's no telling what I could say! No way can I risk that, and, hell, I don't _feel _like pretending tonight! I have a right to enjoy myself for real!" Diana stopped dramatically in the middle of the room, in full pout mode, hands on hips.

Tifa hummed quietly, absently, in agreement. Then the words played back in her mind and got through to her, and she slowly looked up at the brunette with an evil grin.

"What. Teef? You're doing the Look. You know I don't like it when you do the Look…"

"Enjoy yourself for real, right?" The grin slowly spread wider.

"Oh Goddess. No no no no no. Bad ideas. Bad ideas. Teef, you know it's a bad idea. I'm not going anywhere tonight, ever, with anyone, as anyone. Shit, you're doing That Look now, dammit, what have I done to deserve this-?"

* * *

"Why am I here? Why? Why?" Diana moaned.

"Shush. And don't even think about worrying. Cloud's got 'Devon' all under control," Tifa scolded her.

"This isn't a good idea…"

"Shut up. You look fantastic."

"This is not normal, I feel violated already…"

"Can it, girl, you can kick anyone's ass that tries anything."

"Have you noticed that everything you say to me seems to start with some form of 'be quiet'?"

"With good reason. Now let's go. You have stuff to learn."

"Learn? Whaddaya mean _learn_?"

"Useful things. And you're walking like a guy again."

"I don't even know how the hell I'm still upright in these damned things, forget walking like anything at all!"

"You're fine. Not much walking happens in a bar, anyways. Now shut up."

"HELP—!"

"Di. Di. Breathing. Innnn. Oooout. And innnn… And Oooout."

"Whooooo. Okay. I am breathing. I am fine. I can walk. Phew. All right."

Tifa smiled. "Okay. And now…" She swept open a door dramatically to a hall that they crossed, clicking down the stairs into a bar. "Welcome to Seventh Heaven."

"Tifa! Tifa's here, Tifa's here!" A little girl with a brown pigtail came flitting around the corner and tackled Tifa's knees, who picked the girl up swiftly.

"Did you miss me, Marlene?"

"Silly, we were only gone for one day!" the girl shook her head, the pink bow in her hair loosening.

"Oh, I know. I just wanted to see. Hi, Denzel," Tifa smiled again around the corner. A boy a couple years older than the girl had poked his brunette head into the room. "Kids, I want you to meet Diana. She's a very good friend of mine."

"Hi Diana," the girl named Marlene chirped immediately. "I like your name. It's a pretty name. I think I know someone with the same name as you, kinda, sorta, I think!"

"Yeah?" Diana smiled at her. "I've never met anyone with a name even close to Marlene. It's a very pretty name, too."

The girl looked at her with huge brown eyes. "_Real_-ly?" She smiled innocently. "Thank you."

"Really." Diana had never been über-kid-friendly, but she could understand them well at the very least. "And…hi, Denzel?" she tested her luck, looking at the half-hidden boy.

"Hello," he said shyly, blue-green eyes turning to hers. Normal eyes. Not mako-infused, or anything out of the ordinary. It was kind of refreshing.

"It's nice to meet you both," Diana smiled gently, linking her hands behind her back.

"Now, tonight's going to be extra busy, so I want you two to stay upstairs, okay?" Tifa asked of the children. They complied with no fuss, agreeing to begin their schoolwork.

Diana watched them trot upstairs wistfully. "How do you do that? I think my parents would die of happiness if I were like that."

"They absolutely love school. They know they're lucky to go since we live in the city…and they want to learn, so much, so badly." Tifa smiled fondly, watching them as though they were her own children. She had explained earlier that she took care of them, as they were both orphans and Marlene's adoptive father was often busy.

"I—hey. How'd you know I meant it that way?"

"I know everything."

"Yeah, don't I know it," Diana grumbled good-naturedly, pulling at the hem of her skirt yet again. It was a dark gray and was some kind of elastic-like crossbreed between a miniskirt and a pencil skirt. It was comfortable enough; she just felt so contained, so unable to move in it. Not to mention the one-shoulder blue top she had on. That was liberal and dangerous enough in the clothing department, in her opinion. But then again, it was Tifa's thoughts and not hers that seemed to matter at the moment.

* * *

"Here they come," Tifa grinned. She had spent the past half-hour trying to teach Diana the tricks of the trade, to some avail.

"Oh boy. Let's see…five guys? Six? I don't recognize any specific voices." Diana cocked her head to the side, perfectly straight hair swinging.

"Good. We can start off slow. Oh, good, this isn't the shots crowd," Tifa flicked a glance at a cupboard behind her friend's head. "Thought they might start early tonight. Gonna clean me out in a few more days."

Already raucous laughter reached through the door and loudened when it was shoved open.

"Oh boy," Diana repeated through her teeth.

"Hey, like I said. Enjoy yourself."

The two ended up just hanging out lazily behind the bar, chatting, for another hour or so. Then around twenty-two hundred hours, Diana thought, the place started to fill up. _Ten o'clock, stupid. You can't go around citing military time, remember it's weird for a girl to keep track that way_, she scolded herself.

"They're here!" Tifa flashed a smile. Diana looked and saw that her dormmates had entered with a few more of the newly appointed Thirds. The thought still made her go all tingly. Speaking of warm fuzzies, Zack...wasn't there. Oh, well, maybe he would show up with the Firsts. Nearly everyone who was anyone from SOLDIER was going to be here. Diana raised her hand to them in greeting, attracting the attention of the entire…group. Oops. She had almost forgotten that the only one she was supposed to know was Cloud. _Well, now that I just went and made that _completely _awkward._

Max immediately made a beeline for the counter, plopping himself down smack in front of her. "_Hey_."

"Hey. What's your name?" She tried to look appropriately clueless but one side of her mouth just had to quirk up in amusement.

"I'm Max. I know exactly who you are," he grinned broadly.

"Oh yeah? Try me." Oh, Goddess, this was actually fun!

"You're Diana…Dev's sister."

"Oh, I get it. You just made SOLDIER, didn't you?"

"That's right." He smacked his chest.

"One of my brother's roomies?" She laughed then. "Nice to meet you, then. Can I get you anything?"

"Beer's good." Judging by the looks he was giving her, that wasn't the only thing she could get him. This could get weird real fast.

"One sec." She smiled at him and fished in one of the many mini-fridges to get him the drink, and popped the top off effortlessly while glancing at Tifa, who had leaned over the counter to quickly kiss Cloud. It was extremely cute.

Listening in on her friends and their company, she found out that they all seemed to be thinking in a very...'Max-like' way in regards to her. Poor Cloud was doing his best to try to deter them, but there was little hope for that department. She didn't really mind her friends gossiping about her—guys were worse than girls that way!—and it was fun to have something to secretly laugh about.

She quickly discovered that her better than average hearing was both a blessing and a curse while working a bar. A blessing? She could hear when someone wanted something of her from across the bar. A curse? She could hear when someone _wanted something of her _from across the bar.

"Hey, the Turks make their appearance!" Tifa remarked to her around eleven. Was it really that time already? "These guys are a riot. No mako, unlike those ones." She indicated a group of Seconds laughing loudly off to the left end of the counter as they egged on two men who were apparently engaging in a shots contest.

"Mako equals higher tolerance?" Diana guessed.

Tifa smirked and nodded slowly. "And higher tolerance equals a longer time needed to get drunk."

"And a longer time equals more drinks…"

"…Which equals more gil." Tifa laughed. "They've got high paychecks anyway, I don't think it'll absolutely kill 'em. But the Turks, most of them do love their alcohol. They go so quickly, but it's so damn funny. Just watch." Diana obliged, tending to the other patrons as Tifa breezed over to the table of 'Turkeys' and took an order.

Just like that, not fifteen minutes later, a certain flaming redhead with a ponytail and a cocky attitude approached Diana at the counter. "Hey there, sweetheart," he slurred.

"What else can I get for you?" she smiled sweetly. He ordered rum. Just rum. And some gin. _Huh. Weird combo, but alright, sure. _She was sure she'd be saying odder things if she were in the same state he was in.

"Mix some water in—enough to dilute it but not enough that he'll know the difference," Tifa said to Diana under her breath in passing.

"Thanks," she muttered back, doing as her friend recommended. "Anything else?" she turned back to Reno, who was leaning heavily on the countertop as he immediately downed almost half of his rum.

"C'n I have yo' numbah?" he dragged out, grinning widely.

"Sorry, no number to give out, here," she almost laughed in amusement.

"Tha's too bad, 'cause you are the damn hottest-lookin' girl in here." He leaned over the counter.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Reno, was it?" she tried politely to keep him going, because honestly, it was just too funny what he might say if she got him on a roll. It was great, the things that came out of people's mouths at times like these. Untrue though most of them might be, that made it all the greater. As it was in regards to Reno's apparent opinion, there were all of only a few young women here anyway. Her, and Tifa, then that Turk girl-Alanna? Elena? Alicia?-and a few scattered here and there, but SOLDIERs definitely dominated tonight.

"Babe, I'll be whoever you want me to be," he smirked suggestively.

Okay, maybe he wasn't so open to turning the conversation, if you could call it that, away from her. Time for him to go back to his Turkey buddies, then. "Okaaay, well, enjoy your night, Reno. And your rum."

"Oh, care to join me?" He kept giving her that look, that 'I-don't-care-what-I'm-saying-or-what-I'm-doing-but-I-do-know-what-I-want' look that he often wore, but in a more…_aware _state of being at the moment.

"Oh, no thank you, I have people and places and things to attend to, thanks." She didn't miss the suggestiveness of his tone.

"If you want we can go somewhere more…private," he evocated. Make that the 'I-know-what-I-want-and-I'm-going-to-get-it' look.

"Sorry, but I believe in meeting at dinner, not a hotel room," she smiled brightly.

"Well now, if that's how you're gonna be, sugar—"

"How are you tonight?"

It was a murmur by her ear; close enough that she should have detected the person's approach seconds ago but had had her guard down. A voice that was low and calm and leisurely at the moment, and utterly confident in itself. A posture that wasn't quite touching her, but made her back tingle slightly all the same.

Reno was being conveniently dragged away by an exasperated large bald man, signaling back to Diana with the universal 'call me' sign. Diana half-turned her head, barely breathing, to the sight of a broad pair of shoulders. She tilted her head up and back to be able to look him in the eye.

"Hey, Zack."

"Hello, beautiful." He was rewarded by a faint blush that appeared on her cheeks. "Have fun for now. I'll see you in a little bit." He smiled to tell her that he wasn't just blowing her off, and made for the table where his new SOLDIER friends were staking out their territory.

She smiled too, secretively, to herself as she turned to toss another bottle of rum to Tifa. Yeah, just go ahead and toss the alcohol around. Hey, they both had the reflexes for it, and besides, it was fun!

"Why is the rum gone?" she sighed, hunting in the back of a space under the counter for a few more bottles. It was for some reason very popular tonight. Maybe a celebratory tradition among the SOLDIERs?

"I ask myself that all the time," came a lazy voice from the counter in front of her.

She quickly popped up, eyes wide. "S-sorry?" She cleared her throat and regained her confidence. "Sorry. Can I get you anything?"

"Just some sane conversation would be kind enough of you." The man had short dusty blond hair and was quite handsome, despite him not seeming to be quite her type and her being officially 'taken' and all. He seemed awfully unconcerned with what might happen to his neat white shirt, for being in a bar.

"My pleasure," she laughed, rather grateful for a non-intoxicated male encounter at this point. "Rum a favorite of yours?"

"On occasion. My father never seems to approve of anything other than wine, naturally. It's rather bothersome." He leaned on an elbow that was propped on the countertop.

"What, your age and a father's influence still hovering?" she joked. The man had to be in his early to mid twenties.

He chuckled. "Sadly. You've no idea."

"Oh, I think I can get just about any parental issue there is on the face of the planet." She leaned on the counter, carefully letting fly another bottle of rum into Tifa's waiting hands. The man watched with a calculating ice blue gaze.

"You are well acquainted with Miss Lockhart?"

"Oh, yeah," she chuckled. "We're really close." _You've no idea_, she echoed his words in her head.

"I can tell."

She gave him an inquisitive glance, and he merely shrugged. "I've learned the art of reading people well enough from my father. You are…quite strong. Like her. You are very much the same in some ways."

Diana cocked her head, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "…Thank you? Yes. Thank you. It's a good thing," she said the last part more to herself than to him. Suddenly, a few raised voices caught her attention and her eyes narrowed infinitesimally as she focused her gaze over the man's white shoulder. She thought Cloud was acting as somewhat of a bouncer that night, so what was that fairly large young man doing apparently getting ready to shout at someone angrily? Her eyes scanned the room anxiously for potential backup, but Cloud had his hands full with Reno and a couple other guys. Nothing justifiably serious, but plenty enough for him to have to keep a close eye on the group.

"Sorry, I'll just be a minute…" she said apologetically to who she was thinking of as her new friend, who nodded graciously and watched her lift the divider to the bar and stalk toward the source of the conflict.

Diana couldn't hear the dull clicks of her four-inch heeled ankle boots on the worn wooden floor over the noise, but absently decided that it would have made for a good, dramatic sound effect in a movie. As she began to see between and over the heads in the relatively full bar (Seventh Heaven wasn't huge, but it was definitely a good size) she felt a wave of disbelief and disgust at the scene that was building.

The big young man was unfamiliar to her, and wasn't a SOLDIER either, judging by which people were giving him looks of recognition and those who weren't. An average-sized dirty blonde young woman, maybe Diana's own age, was standing in front of him, and at first Diana automatically dismissed the conclusion that she was the one being yelled at by the man. Then she saw the expression on the girl's face. As hard as she was trying to conceal it, she was nervous and almost fearful. Apparently, she was trying to stand up for herself, but her body language screamed '_unsafe, unsafe, unsafe_!'

Diana was immersed in a sudden somewhat unpleasant flashback. She was in the place of the girl, and her then-current boyfriend was the one facing her in anger. Her brother was in Diana's current place, storming onto the scene in indignation.

_"I don't believe you, you lying bi—"_

_"_Hey_!" A teenage boy with dark brown hair raged. "You wanna run that by again?"_

_"Your sister," the other boy, for that was all he was in this time, sneered, "should get what's coming to her—"_

_"You know," Devon said quietly, for the dark-haired boy was he, "one of these days, she's just gonna tell you that she's had enough."_

_"Enough of what?" the other continued. The girl – Diana – kept standing there, seemingly trying to shrink in on herself. She was fifteen years old._

_"How 'manly' do you feel like when you go pushing her around all the time?" Devon demanded, continuing to rant. He never understood why his sister hung around this guy in the first place..._

_"I don't know what you think goes on between us, but believe me, this is our own private affair. If you please," he mocked Devon, who went to protest hotly when a voice interrupted him._

_"Dev – please. Just don't." Her voice was smaller than she'd intended, and she swallowed hard to try to dislodge whatever it was that was bothering her down there._

_"But I—"_

_"You heard her," the boy smirked victoriously. Devon stood by, fuming at his inability to go against his sister's wishes. Sure, his sister's boyfriend absolutely swore that he loved her. Love, his ass. He backed down slightly all the same._

_"So what do you mean by sneaking off with every other guy in town, huh?" the boy went back to half-yelling._

_"I don't, I don't, I never have, why don't you believe me?" Diana said desperately._

_"'Cause you're a cheating slut, that's why, worthless piece of trash!"_

_Something snapped, and she began to grind her back teeth together. He continued, oblivious to her sudden change in demeanor. "Worthless, useless, good-for-nothing, waste of time and energy—" he chanted on, seeming to inflate more with each word._

_"Shut up." The small voice was suddenly full of venom, thoug h it was directed at the ground. Even she didn't realize what the trigger had been for her anger until later. (She and her brother had accidentally found out the truth about their existence only a year ago, and any words, any reference to being worthless or a failure, was absolutely taboo around the twins.)_

_"_What_?" His voice was full of a quieter, more deadly fury now._

_She blew air out through her nose and spun away from him, facing away and crossing her arms in finality. "Again. Shut. _Up_."_

_He _shoved _her in the back, and yet somehow she still didn't fight it, falling facefirst to the ground._

_"Oh, so do you feel better now, when you push her down?" Devon shouted, quite understandably unable to contain himself._

_Facedown in the dirt, Diana gritted her teeth. She cursed her weakness. She cursed her inability to stand up to this jerk. And she cursed her inability to see the truth. "_This_. Isn't. What hurts." It was addressed to no one in particular, and neither male took notice of her._

_"You want a fight? You want one? Come and get it!" the slightly taller boy yelled back. He was about to jump on Devon, when Diana sprang up from the ground, fueled by rage, to shove him back hard with both hands._

_"I have had _enough_!" she screamed in his face as he stumbled. She helped him down with a slap to the face and a punch to the gut. She wasn't all that strong at this point, but the boy was in a state of shock and fell over backward, sitting down hard on the ground. "I see it all now! So stop trying to fool the rest of the world and go get a reason for your life! Or better! Get _out _of my life and _don't come back_!"_

Diana shook herself out of the memory and suppressed a snarl. This jackass looked to be all too similar to her ex. Not the same person. But very close in personality.

The guy was actually _raising a hand _in a way that seemed to be extremely threatening toward the girl. Was this for real? Diana didn't care how hammered he was – no one had a right to do that in any state. He seemed to be saying something to the effect of 'it's over.'

She slid smoothly in front of the already-flinching blonde girl and snagged the man's wrist out of nowhere. No one watching had seen her coming, with the exceptions of a proud Tifa and a fascinated Zack.

"I don't think you want to do that," she said quietly, not wanting to raise a scene but wanting this jerk to get what he had coming to him at the same time.

"What's it to you?" he lashed back. Jeez, he had only had a couple beers, by the look of things. What a way to act even when sober.

"One: civilized people in public do not beat on each other. Two: people do not beat on their defenseless, innocent girlfriends." She was all but emanating flames, but he didn't seem to get the message. The girl was still trembling slightly behind her: more evidence that whatever the problem was here, it wasn't the first time. Not by a long shot.

"This is between me – and her. So back off if you know what's good for you," came the sneering comeback, in total disregard to what Diana had just said.

She stared at him, hard, for a few seconds, keeping the hold on his wrist. Then she decided something and twisted, hard, and moved behind him in a fluid motion to yank the limb behind his back and up. "_Out_," she snapped, kicking him in the back of the knees to make him stumble, and knocked the slightly ajar door open with her foot.

"What do you think you're doing?" he raged. She just drove him on outside and felt his fury at being held still by a girl.

"Right. Let me ask you the same question: what the _hell _do you think you're doing?" Diana wrenched his arm around but released him, pushing him back from her several steps. "I assume she's your 'girlfriend,' right?" She scornfully emphasized the label.

"What's it to you that we're just having a little disagreement—"

"_Dis…agreement_?" She had to force herself to keep her voice down enough so that she didn't disturb the civil peace or something like that. "Since not much seems to get through that thick skull of yours, I'll be blunt: ever heard of the term 'abusive relationship'?"

He looked appalled despite his roughness. "That's not us! We love each other. We just get in little fights now and then, like regular—"

"Love is not hitting your girlfriend so that she _flinches _when you raise a hand!"

"I don't know what you're…" But his arguments were weakening and he was, oddly, diminishing in on himself just a little bit. He almost seemed in fear of Diana.

"Just – don't even try. Get some help. Get some counseling. Get some counseling for your _ex_. And get out of my sight. In plainer terms: your behavior is disgusting of a human being," she snarled. This wasn't her ex-boyfriend. He was turning out to be the same type, though. Acted all tough, picked fights, beat on his girl but she apparently never saw it for what it was. Suddenly, when someone confronted him (strongly) he wasn't all so tough anymore and he went scurrying away with his tail between his legs. And odds were, he was naturally a lot gentler of a person after some good consultation and therapy.

She let him stand, presumably shocked into silence, for a moment. Then he suddenly winced again and turned to walk quickly away, glancing back over his shoulder twice before breaking into a jog.

She sighed, a little exhausted at the memories and the outburst, hoping she'd done the trick correctly. Huh. More like Dev every day, she thought wryly but with a small smile.

Feeling a set of eyes on her, she looked up quickly into the window to the left of the door of Seventh Heaven. Zack winked at her and waved. She smiled and ducked her head before remembering to hold herself high while reentering the room.

A few pairs of eyes still flicked to her in apprehension as she walked in, proud that she wasn't teetering on her heels. She searched for the girl and found her almost immediately, staring at her with wide eyes.

"What…did you do?" the poor girl whispered as Diana approached, trying to look sympathetic and comforting.

"It's fine. I just told him off for what he's obviously been doing to you, and I honestly think it's alright now," Diana murmured calmingly.

"But – but – he d-didn't do–"

Diana sighed. "Hon, it's pretty clear. Really. You should get yourself to a therapeutic circle session, and don't worry about that guy any more. Okay? He's one of the types that get scared off for good once you put them in their place. Trust me. I've dealt with this before," she added at the girl's still uncertain look.

"You – you have?"

"Yeah." She tried to smile. "And it'll be okay. All right? Do you have a ride home?"

The girl nodded, Barbie-like curls bouncing. "I'm okay, I'm pretty sure." The shakiness was going away some. "And, um…thank you for that. I…don't know why you did it, but thanks. I should have done that myself a long time ago."

Diana smiled gently, more confident now. "It's no problem. And I mean it about finding a help group. Take care, okay?" She gave a little wave to the girl, and caught Zack's eye again shyly as she returned to her post behind the bar. Noticing the nice blond man from before, she raised her eyebrows and a hand in farewell and he nodded once at her in response before melting into the crowd and out the door.

She was distracted by Tifa hugging her quickly. "Am I right in saying that that's another little personal secret you don't share often?" Tifa asked carefully.

"Yeah, good guessing. It's okay, though." Diana had a serene expression on now. "It's all okay. I…helped someone. That's one of my purposes, remember?" Tifa nodded once, glowing with sisterly pride for her friend. "Now where's the rum."

Reno was looking like he was going to start dancing on the tables soon. That was one thing that Diana made a vow, right then, to see before she died. Poor Turk. Didn't stand a chance against a shots contest with a SOLDIER. Mako burned down alcohol like nobody's business, just like it would any poison, food, or other substance.

"Just wondering – are you aware who was hitting on you before you ran off?" Tifa asked casually.

"Who?" Oh, she meant the blond man. Hitting on her? Was Tifa mistaken, or did she need a reality check herself? Either way, she wasn't exactly interested in the man _that way _at all. "Oh, him. No, I didn't get a name."

Tifa raised her eyebrows. "You didn't even recognize him?"

"Uh…no? Should I have? Don't tell me he's a famous actor or something, you know I can't and don't keep up with that stuff."

"For Gaia's sake, you're a—" Tifa leaned close, "SOLDIER, I'd think you would know…"

"_Shh_! Goddess, Teef." Her eyes darted around, unnecessarily anxious. "Just tell me already, you're making my imagination go into severe overdrive."

"That was _Rufus Shinra_."

It was Diana's turn to gape. "Huh? No… Looks nothing like old man Shinra! Well, I guess maybe if they were next to each other… He didn't seem all that bad."

"Hmmm, well apparently he didn't think you were too bad either," Tifa murmured. "Poor Zack's gonna end up beating someone up one of these days…"

Diana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Goddess knows that's all I need." She still smiled at the slightly funny thought, though.

There was somewhat of a commotion outside, and the sound of what Diana had come to recognize as someone missing the door reverberated through the walls and floor. Someone was apparently already pretty far gone. She wondered absently who it was, groping under the counter for one of the few remaining bottles of decent rum.

The absolute last person or group of people that she expected to see was the Dynamic Trio. Genesis was the first to burst through, presumably the one who had been intimately acquainting himself with the doorframe. Sephiroth was right behind, but extremely oddly, he wasn't looking as passive or disapproving as the following Angeal was. Far from either, in fact. He was downright _drunk_.

The three plonked down at the bar smack in front of a wide-eyed Diana. _Oh. All right, then?_ This could get real interesting, real fast.

She made an attempt to be pleasant, considering she didn't exactly know what to make of this yet. "Can I help you?"

"Straight up whiskey would be great," Angeal groaned, rubbing his temples.

"Rough night?" She sympathized, indicating his companions in amusement.

He glared to his left at the two other Firsts, who were literally swaying in their seats. "You've no idea."

"All right, just a minute, then." She hunted for the whiskey and got a couple glasses of water for the other two, hoping to convince them it was something legitimately alcoholic if she mixed a few drops of the whiskey in. The improvised combination seemed to work, odd though it might have tasted, because they downed them straight off and asked for seconds (or at least she assumed that was what they were trying to articulate.) She was still new at this stuff, after all.

"Not many left to handle?" Angeal took a swig of his drink, indicating the rest of the still somewhat full bar.

"Nah, most of 'em are happy with what they've got. For now." Diana leaned against a cupboard and poked around a few ice cubes in her own water. Condensation dripped off over her warm fingers and she flicked one hand.

Then she made the mistake of taking a drink as Angeal began to speak. "So, you and my Puppy, huh?"

She nearly inhaled an ice cube and covered her mouth as she turned her head to regard a perfectly calm Angeal. She nodded slowly. "How'd you know it was me? Don't tell me he's asked you to stalk me," she joked.

"No, I can just tell by your looks. I know your brother."

"Ah. How is he? We…haven't exactly spoken." She tried to hang her head appropriately.

"Devon is an intelligent boy." She all but glowed with pride at the reference. "He works his butt off, anyone can tell. He tries so hard to exceed everyone's expectations and impressions of him, and even I have to admit that that's something he does do well," the bulky man chuckled.

Diana tried not to smile all too broadly. "That's good. I think he's doing well, having a good time with it all. I heard he made the SOLDIER cut today… I'm…really proud of him."

The side of Angeal's mouth quirked. "We're all proud of all the boys who've come this far." After a pause, he picked up the previous thread of the conversation. "I can also tell because Zachary keeps looking at you."

She blinked in surprise. "Oh?" She expanded her peripherals to take in more of the background activity and let her vision zone in on where he was sitting. Sure enough, Angeal was right. "So he is. I see him." She looked straight at Zack the next time his eyes went to her, and he grinned cheekily in acknowledgment. She laughed and shook her head resignedly. "I guess we're no longer a mystery, then."

"_Mysteriously infinite is the Goddess of the gift… And she descends to the sky… _No, it's _ascends to the earth_…"

"Shut up, Genesis! It's even more annoying when you can't even get the damn lines straight!" Angeal reached across Sephiroth to whack at his friend. "_Loveless_," he said at the same time as Diana.

"How appropriately ironic," Diana said dryly, now regarding Sephiroth with suspicion, who looked to be quite miffed at being reached across and deprived of his drink again.

"Genny just needs to get laid," he slurred spontaneously, extracting twin reactions from Diana and Angeal.

"Uh…huh?" was all a nearly-twitching Diana could muster. Angeal just blinked and covered his face in both large hands, muttering into them incomprehensibly.

"Best therapy there is…whoooops!" The _extremely _uncharacteristically loopy General somehow managed to keel over backwards and land with an earth-shaking _thud _on the floor.

Genesis took the opportunity to lean over the counter to grin broadly at Diana. "Hello there."

Oh, jeez. "Hey," she said warily.

Apparently he was the type of drunk who got straight to the point. "I will be utterly devastated if you are occupied later tonight."

"Eh, sorry, I've got, um, plans. Yeah, plans." Like sleeping.

"Well, I assure you, darling, I won't hesitate to follow you wherever you may wish to go tonight." He kept getting closer and closer, and Diana was actually glad for the bar between them. She wasn't missing any implications, either. What was it that she had thought before about Genesis and getting intimately acquainted with things? Just as she was scrambling to come up with a response to that that couldn't be misconstrued or convoluted quite so easily, she felt a presence come up behind her.

"Problems?" It was close enough that she should have detected the person's approach seconds ago but had had her guard down. A voice that was low and calm but full of subtle warnings at the moment, and utterly confident in itself. A posture that wasn't quite touching her, but made the clear statement of _'mine'_.

"No problem. Don't worry." Diana smiled, resisting a sudden urge to turn around and stare unabashedly at the man behind her.

Sephiroth was back on his stool, sort of, and conveniently reoccupied Genesis' attention for the moment. As Angeal graciously excused himself and his friends, Tifa came to tell Diana that they had about half an hour til appropriate closing time. Zack drifted off again, winking at her and brushing her hand with his as he breezed by.

By the time the half an hour had passed, Diana had had just half of a glass of rum and wasn't feeling beyond very mildly tipsy, except she was just so _tired_. The patrons seemed to feel the same, and most had cleared out by half past midnight, even Diana's SOLDIER friends who had the next day off of training on account of it being Sunday, the off day.

Tifa returned from cleaning glasses to find Diana slumped on a stool in the back room, dozing lightly. She shook her head and smiled. "Come on, let's get you back into normal attire, shall we? You're staying at my place tonight." Tifa got an incoherent mumble in response, so she rolled her eyes and helped the semiconscious Diana into a white tank top and gray shorts that she could sleep in as a girl. Diana had ditched the 'one-hour shoes' that had somehow lasted about three and a half hours a while ago.

"Hey, Teef, do you know where – hahhhh…" Zack yawned widely as he leaned against the doorframe, apparently the last to leave. Or come back, Tifa thought with amusement.

"Oh, hey, Zack, if you're looking for your girlfriend, well…" Tifa gestured as the chair that Diana was curled up in all over again. "Well, _oops _would you look at the time, I gotta—" she covered a yawn of her own— "go. Catch ya later!" She practically ran from the room to take off for her apartment at Shinra HQ, knowing that Barrett had come back earlier and was staying with and watching Marlene and Denzel.

"I – hey, wait – Tifa! Tifa! Ugh. Damn." He glanced at the girl breathing deeply in her sleep a few feet away. "Well, what are we going to do with you?" he mused, then snapped his fingers. "I've got an extra bed in the dorm – that works." So with that, he carefully picked her up and maneuvered her to his back so she was easier to carry.

Her head dropped onto his shoulder and one corner of his mouth quirked up when her loose hair tickled the side of his face.

* * *

Zack yawned yet again as he deposited Diana on his double bed. He would sleep on the couch, seeing as how someone, very likely Kunsel, had somehow made off with his spare fold-up cot, for Goddess-knows-what purpose. Diana rolled over and sighed in her sleep, not stirring otherwise during the trek up to Zack's rooms. Zack thought she was acting almost drugged. But then, she probably had an exhausting day, never mind tending a bar for the first time. She had had an awful lot to deal with that night…

When he returned from the bathroom, Zack was finding it slightly irritating that he couldn't seem to keep his eyes open. They kept drooping closed and it was harder each time to force them out of just a blink. He sat on the edge of the bed for a second, rubbing his eyes like a child. He just had to sit for a second…just a …second…

He was unconscious before his head even hit the covers on the bed as he keeled over limply.

**A/N: Did I just end a chapter where everyone's asleep? Wow. ...Weird. Anyhow, I hope the little middle section was appropriately reminiscient of Diana's past...something like that has never happened to me, so I don't actually know quite how it would go, but I tried. Let me know how you liked the crack XD and hello, extreme OOC Sephy moment! Hahaha I gotta admit I have waaay too much fun with him and Genesis and Angeal. So drop me a line, review, all of the above! :) Thanks for reading!**


	21. How To Take On The World

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: If I did in fact own Final Fantasy VII, well...I'll just let you read and use your no doubt overly active imaginations on this one ;P**

**A/N: Ta-da, another loooong chapter! :D Warning: epic action sequence lies within! Haha but seriously, it's pretty epic. Oh, but first, we hafta get through the, OH YEAH, EXTREME AWKWARDNESS! This is gonna be fun. Hehe, enjoy wholeheartedly and review/constructively criticize please! :)**

**Chapter 21: How To Take On The World**

When Diana woke up halfway, drifting somewhere in between consciousness and unawareness, she was unusually, if drowsily, content. She was holding on to something pleasantly warm and solid; her head was resting on it as well as her left arm. The surface she was on was really comfortable, and she was half curled up against the warm something.

When Zack woke up halfway, he was feeling rather peaceful and at ease. Somewhat strange for him, but he enjoyed the hovering sense of security while it lasted. Something small and warm was near him, and one of his arms was curled around it protectively, as if to keep it in place. He was completely settled in his position, having not moved for a while.

He wasn't sure what woke him up the rest of the way. The only thing he registered was that he didn't want to move; not at all. He was perfectly content, although he consented to opening his eyes just a sliver…

That was what sent the shock and confusion signals to his brain. A human? Hang on. He knew the human. Why should he know this? _Did _he know this? He did, he knew it, now who and why and how…? Oh! _Oh. OH—_

All Diana knew when she gained full awareness was that something squeezed her ever so slightly and she reacted by opening her eyes abruptly. What was this—? A human torso? (A very nice male human torso. Covered by what looked like a thin tank top, but still rather nice. Not to mention the arms, one of which was resting on the sheets beside the torso. Muscular, but compact; not overly bulky.) …Wait. Sheets? What the hell. She looked up past the midsection of a human being to the face, which turned to meet her look at the same time.

A good few seconds hung heavy with incredulity and confusion.

"What—"

"Nothing—"

"Happened?" Zack and Diana finished in unison.

"Nothing happened here, right?" Zack jumped right in guardedly. He remembered sitting for a moment…just a moment…because he had been so exhausted all of a sudden. He must have just gone and passed out right next to Diana on the bed. Now that was a more than slightly awkward circumstance…hm. But, he was Zack Fair. So, not much was actually deemed 'awkward' around him. It was all right. Just as long as she accepted it the same way that he did/

"No. No, definitely not," she stated firmly. Hell, what was she supposed to do now? You didn't _wake up with _someone just any day! And she distinctly remembered everything from the night before, up to being half conscious as she dressed in sleepclothes to travel home in. But here, wherever here was, she had no memory of. At least she felt safe…Zack was here, which was more than fine by her; it was just so _weird _that…that… What was that thought again? She'd lost it. Hm. Her mind kept getting inconveniently sidetracked by its reactions to what her other senses were experiencing.

"You were passed out and someone had to take care of you…" Zack murmured, answering her question. "I must have just conked out too."

She couldn't stop staring as the pair of blue eyes glowed back at her. Quite inconvenient, seeing as how she was still practically clinging to Zack. He was wearing a white tank top, like her, and boxers, and certainly plenty enough of his muscular body was visible to her.

"Well, now what?" Diana said under her breath, not finding it necessary to speak above a whisper now.

"Hmm." Zack paused for a moment, glancing at the clock. "Late enough. Shall we, then?" He kicked off the covers, sadly, and rose to stand fluidly, offering her a considerate hand.

"Mm-hm." She consented to taking his hand and stood with him, spotting her full-to-bursting bag of 'supplies and equipment' as she had put it, that she had taken to Tifa's the night before, out of the corner of her eye.

He just kept pulling, and drew her closer until their bodies were almost touching. Then he leaned down and kissed her all too briefly, earning a little gasp of mild surprise.

That was when the alarm bells went off. Literally. Suddenly lights were flashing and something was beeping loudly, and Zack's blue eyes were flashing and he wanted to start swearing loudly.

"What's this?" Diana asked briskly, fairly alarmed but not about to show it.

"I don't know. It's not good, though—" He cocked his head suddenly, listening to what she couldn't hear, much to her frustration. Yelling voices. "I've never seen this before. I have to go, though. I'll find out. Huh?" His PHS on the bedside table was buzzing. Flicking it open, he was already talking quickly. "'S going on? No? Crap. …Great. Okay. Sure. Don't know… Got it. Yessir." He hung up. "Duty calls. Angeal," he directed at Diana grimly, "says there's a break-in. Big force of the Wutaian army. Not good. I'm supposed to go out and stop anyone I see from getting in—" He had been pacing around, throwing on his uniform and various pieces of equipment and weapons, and stopped. "What am I going to do with you?" he despaired.

Her brain had been working as fast as his, calculating the time and whether 'Devon' was okay for now or not. Everything should be fine in regard to that, seeing as how everyone was caught by surprise and would undoubtedly be running around in complete disarray, and her mind was now going into quick-action mode. "I'm coming, of course," she blurted before she could think that through completely.

"Whooooa. No. Nonono. No. Absolutely not." He jabbed a finger at her firmly.

"Why!" she challenged. "I've got just as much a right as you do!" For Gaia's sake, she was a freaking SOLDIER now! Not like she could say that now. But still. She had the credentials, all right.

"But – but – how – wha – no – not…" he trailed off, deflating slightly as he watched her.

She had already crossed the room to her 'bag of tricks' and was redressing (safely, of course) into a black long-sleeved top and cutoff black cargo pants with a thick, useful-looking belt with all sorts of ninja-inspired paraphernalia attached. Pulling on a pair of thick socks, she forced her feet into nearly knee-high boots and tightened the stubborn buckles. This was what she would wear when she could get into a fight as a girl. Tifa had once compared her to some movie heroine who was like some combination of a ninja and a gunslinger. _"You're like a real-life one of her, only she's all like 'Hey look, I have a gun right here on my side' while you're all 'I'm gonna pull a gun on you out of nowhere, see how ya like that!'"_

"Holy Goddess," Zack said hoarsely. _That's so not natural. That's scary, man. She's not a fighter, I didn't think… Well, maybe, I guess… She does hang out with Tifa, and who's to say she hasn't learned a few tricks? But it's still way too dangerous! Far out of her league and far out of the question._ "You're still not coming," he crossed his arms stubbornly. "You're going to get out of here safely, and fast."

She turned to look at him incredulously. "You really think I'm gonna go quietly?" He snorted in sarcasm. "There, ya see?" she smirked. Realizing he had just doomed his own argument, he opened his mouth to protest, but the girl was already halfway out the door. He swore as he grabbed his broadsword and ran after her.

They moved the same way, creeping through the halls. They moved like shadows, graceful and silent as whispers. The sounds of far-off skirmishes reached even Diana's ears, but they had encountered no one so far.

"Wait," Zack suddenly mouthed. "Hang on." She made a face at him. He rolled his eyes and clarified: "One sec." Satisfied, she took extra-careful stock of their surroundings as Zack crept closer to the corner they were about to turn into a courtyard. He was back in a moment. "Seven to nine?" he guessed quietly. "Standing. Nothing else. Not too much of an obstacle, but I don't want to confront them head-on with you with me, and they're in the way." He fidgeted.

Diana suddenly got a brilliant idea. "Stay here," she mouthed and his hackles practically rose. "Only interfere if I _need help_," she emphasized. "Okay? Great. Now watch and learn." She grinned recklessly, ignoring his pointed glares.

Damn it all, was she going to be so stupid all the time? Zack fumed silently. What did she think she was doing? She probably had minimal training and seemed like she could handle herself, but up against a gang of fully armed soldiers? He didn't think so. If there was just a hint of trouble, he was bursting in there, all guns blazing. No trouble for her on his watch, he decided protectively.

Diana backed up several yards, beginning to suck air in and out fast to make her lungs work more quickly. She began to jog, speeding up, breathing heavily and making her steps appear naturally clumsy. "Zack? Zack!" she called out in an innocent voice. She passed a very confused Zack and winked. "Zack, where are you? …Zack! …_Oh!_" She skidded to a stop right in front of eight Wutaian soldiers who were regarding her with extreme surprise. This was a job that only she could do.

"Guns _down_, you idiots, it's just a girl," a guy who looked to be in charge here snapped around at the rest of the soldiers.

_Strike one,_ sang a little voice in Diana's head. "Oh – oh, I'm sorry! I just want to find my friend, he was here, and – and –" She dry sobbed theatrically, trying to look wide-eyed and trusting. "Can you – " sniff – "help me?"

The officer smiled just a little too widely at her. "Why sure, we'll help you, sweetheart. But for now, you mind waiting around just a little bit?"

Another one of the soldiers hissed in his ear. Supposedly Diana couldn't hear him ask his superior what he thought he was doing. "Ah, give it a break, she's a chick, she's harmless," the first one whispered back, flashing her another smile as she stared back in blank innocence. _Strike two_…

She suddenly gasped overdramatically, pointing to a corner of a roof up above them, across the expanse of a training yard. "What was that? There's someone there, look, look!"

Every single one of the eight soldiers turned immediately at the idea of rooftop snipers, pointing their rifles into the air and cocking them. Turning away from her. _Strike three…and you're out._

Before anyone could turn back to see her, she dispatched the nearest soldier with a swift pressure-point pinch to the area between the back of the neck and the shoulder. He fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Ohmygosh, over _there_!" she yelped, spinning around so it looked like something would have been able to hit the fallen man from behind, and backing around to the edge of the group again. She had more room this time, so she threw as inconspicuous a hard punch as she could manage into a certain place on a soldier's jaw, knocking him out instantly as well. "Oh no!" She gasped loudly again. "They're on the north wall! Quick, there!" The group turned trustingly – stupidly – to where she was waving wildly at one of the many walls that divided parts of the compound, if you could call it that. This time, when she pulled the pressure-point trick again, the man who had first questioned her presence caught sight of her and was opening his mouth to shout something.

"Hey, you—!"

Well, the plan had gone to hell now. But hey, there were only five left. No problemo. "Haaa-ya!" Diana actually flung herself straight at the guy, kicking him up under the chin (one of Tifa's favorite moves) and helping him over backwards with another swift kick that reached almost all the way underneath him to come into jarring contact with his tailbone. The others would be onto her by now, she concluded, and ducked on an impulse as she spun around to face her opponents. It was a good thing, too, because something sharp whizzed over her head.

Her peripherals were telling her that one of the four was standing dumbstruck while the other three were running at her, shouting and waving sharp things. How lovely. As soon as she had her feet planted, she launched into a roundhouse kick. From there on, she was barely aware of what her body was really doing. She had gone into fight mode, and there was no stopping her. She moved, twisted, bent, flipped, hit, ducked, and spun, all with quick efficiency. It was all built into her instinct. Because she was strong now.

Zack had just about blown his top by now and when the warning sounds of conflict reached his ears, he shot off around the corner, to fly around the next corner, to see in the center of the courtyard…

Diana whipped into a high fan kick with her right leg, connecting painfully with the side of the eighth soldier's head and sending him literally flying into the wall several feet away. He slumped to the ground, clearly unconscious at the least.

Zack watched as Diana blew out a deep breath and tugged off her gloves calmly, wiping her hands on her pants. She nonchalantly smoothed back her ponytail and pulled it tight again before spinning on one foot, presumably to come get Zack. She halted abruptly when she saw that he was already standing there, half leaning against the wall for what looked like support.

"All over and done with," she smiled serenely, shrugging. "Where to now?"

Zack's mouth popped open into a perfect "o". He swiftly clamped it shut, but the damage was done. Diana began to laugh, trying to hide it behind her hand.

"Did _you _do _that_?" His voice was a bit higher than usual and he coughed.

"Do what?" She cocked her head and walked toward him, completely unruffled. When he kept staring, she started laughing again and planted her hands on her hips. Goddess, this was hysterical! He sure never saw that coming. "Haven't you learned by now not to be surprised around me?"

He just shook his head slowly and closed his eyes. What she had pulled at Tifa's bar, having to throw that guy out – that was nothing. If he wasn't going entirely insane, his girlfriend had just taken out eight enemy soldiers like it was – was – _nothing!_

"Are you sure you and Dev aren't clones instead of twins?" he laughed dryly, finally opening his glowing eyes again. He had seen that kick before. He had experienced it firsthand. Only, apparently not full-force, and hell, this was Diana, not Devon. He couldn't wait til Dev got properly inducted into SOLDIER with the mako treatments; the kid was going to be amazing. A random question: why did he still think of his friend as a kid? Sure he was small, if deceivingly so, but he didn't think of his twin as a _kid_. That was just wrong, right? If anything, Diana was mature beyond her years. Possibly less tainted by the horrors of the world, but by no means more naïve. She didn't appear to have had much to deal with in the personal trauma department, but she was one of those people who have the ability to see any point of view and put themselves in the role. They could understand what people were feeling through extremely deep empathy, and ended up in more pain than necessary because of it. No, she wasn't a kid.

"We're kinda naturally a family of fighters…" she self-consciously rubbed the back of her neck.

Zack half-snorted. "Ya think?" he murmured incredulously.

She rolled her eyes at him good-naturedly while scanning the training yard that they were at the edge of for threats. "Twenty-three years on this planet, and you're surprised by things like this?" she joked.

"Heh. Well, funny you should put it that way…" He absently motioned for her to follow while starting off in a new direction, trying to pin down where exactly most of the fight was taking place. "I lie about my age. I'm barely twenty-two. Like, really; a couple of weeks ago."

Diana blinked but kept moving. She was almost twenty – in just over a month – so she and Zack were really just two years apart. "Why?" she questioned. "Doesn't that cause…problems?"

He looked at her with a rare trace of loneliness in his deep blue eyes. "You ever heard of a twenty-one-year-old being promoted to a First?" He saw the realization dawn in her eyes. "I do it so I'm not quite so much of a freak," he said quietly.

"Join the club," she murmured. "Are you kidding?" She lightened her tone. "Freaks rule."

He grinned somewhat mischievously, apparently having one of his random thoughts that had a habit of striking him at odd times. "You know what you remind me of? A dragonfly. Like, silent but deadly, you know?"

She gave a highly unladylike snort. "What, do dragonflies bite or something?"

"Er, no, but around Gongaga they're mutated or something so…you know what, never mind. Just bear with me here." He rolled his eyes at her. "Like, at first, it seems like an innocent thing, and then all of a sudden it's like _blam_, unexpected! You know. In a way. Okay, I'm just gonna shut up now."

She punched him lightly on the arm. "Extended metaphors don't suit you, do they? But I don't mind." She slowly looked at him out of the corner of her eye, becoming apprehensive at the 'I'm having an idea' look coming into his eyes.

"From henceforth, you shall be known as Dragonfly," he carried on dramatically. Diana stuck her tongue out at him.

He grinned back, but only briefly, because the sounds of battle were getting ever closer, and he gripped the handle of the sword harnessed on his back while keeping her behind him protectively.

She smiled. Sweet, but again, just a bit unneeded. Well, maybe she didn't have all that much armor, she considered in compensation. She was wearing a Kevlar vest under her shirt, though. That was something. Never mind that she looked relatively harmless at first glance. _Yeah. That won't last long_. She grinned dangerously in anticipation, adrenaline already heightening her senses and making her a little twitchy.

Real battlefields look nothing like the movies. Most of them, anyway. In reality, everything doesn't just clear away once it's 'disposed of'. Everything is everywhere, as if trying to fight isn't enough without worrying where you're stepping. It isn't an array of one-on-ones, separately engaged, either. Sometimes that's how it works out, but any approach will end up being 'just go and take down anything in your path' sooner or later. Sooner or later, everything is in disarray and all you're trying to do with your heightened senses is keep yourself and any comrades you can see alive.

Diana didn't really want to kill anyone today. She didn't think she'd killed any of the men back there, except maybe broken a neck by accident or something like that. She still had morals and a conscience, for Gaia's sake! She wasn't one of the mindless killing machines that so many people seem to take pride in these days. But how are wars fought? Beat the other guy up so he can't turn around and beat you up first, right? At least, that was supposed to be the main idea. Right?

Zack was feeling uneasy. He didn't like the look of things at all. Wutaian infantrymen must have commandeered one of the trains and gotten in undetected. Likely the too-often overlooked Sector One. Their goal looked to be simple: get into Shinra HQ and raise hell. It looked to be working quite well at the moment, actually, but what bothered him was how unprepared they had been for the attack, and how compared to the entire Wutaian army's size, this wasn't all that great a force. Shinra was all pin-straight rules and regulations and organization and orderliness. So why so great the 'surprise' in 'surprise attack'? And on the thought of the Sector One train, the only time they could have gotten past security from outside the city was in the early hours of the morning, if he remembered the routines of the guards correctly from a simulated mission. Why the delay, then, until at least two hours after sunrise? What if they had needed to time to set something up? He didn't like the sound of that, not at all…

Speaking of raising hell.

Diana dropped into half a crouch as the ground trembled. No, it wasn't trembling; it was shaking. Earthquakes seemed a highly unlikely coincidence at this point, so she took the liberty of concluding that they were all in very deep shit. No one had spotted the two of them yet, which was a plus, but no one else had noticed the shaking yet, which was decidedly a minus.

And then hell was raised.

At least, that was damn close to what it looked like.

The ground was cracking in places, just like an earthquake. Rifts were appearing and getting bigger, and Zack and Diana had to jump to avoid a few. Oddly, the rifts weren't deepening into canyons to swallow people and things whole. Instead, a thing erupted from the focal point of the closest fissures. It was shadowy and almost smudged around the edges, like a charcoal-and-watercolor that had been dragged under an exhaust pipe. It streaked along the ground, moving fast, toward the battle. It took shape just before it reached a few Shinra infantrymen, jumping into the air and seeming to hang in time for just a second. In Diana's opinion, it looked like a giant wolf/bear hybrid.

Immediately and without breaking stride, it pounced on three men caught unawares. It wheeled and gave a vicious snarl that penetrated through the ordinary sounds of battle.

_Make that a hybrid with an ugly mug and a bad attitude._

"Shit. Hellhound!" Zack growled.

_Make that a – _several _hellhounds. …We're all screwed._

"Zack!" someone bellowed. The named and Diana spun in synch to behold a sweaty, angry, sword-brandishing, very large Angeal. "There you are. We don't know what's going on so don't ask. Do what you do best and don't be too stupid about it." He swore again and charged off after the nearby Genesis in pursuit of one of the monsters.

Zack turned to fix Diana with a Look that was already telling her what he was about to say. "Stay here." She gave him a similar Look back. "Okay, never mind—just stay out of trouble." He leaned forward and kissed her fiercely. "Please, dragonfly." Taking advantage of the briefly stunned expression that took over her features, he leapt off and was out of sight in a matter of seconds.

Damn. He _cared_. Zack really…hang on. "Hey—wait! You dumb shit! Ugh. Fine. Fine!" Diana regained her senses and looked around in indignation. Then she spotted a familiar figure.

Crouching not too far away was Tifa, dressed in her black ensemble instead of her customary white shirt and red shorts. Her long ponytail whipped in the breeze as Diana crept up to her, still fuming. Diana slumped against the stack of crates that hid the two of them, blowing a wisp of hair out of her face.

"What'd you get? 'Get away?'" she air quoted.

"Nope," Tifa made a popping noise on the 'P'. "'Stay back.' Cloud knew I was gonna refuse to completely ditch him. You?" she asked nonchalantly, like they weren't hiding on the edge of an arena of death.

"'Stay out of trouble.'" The brunette smirked. "Zack knows me too well, too."

"This is so bad. Like, really bad. Have I mentioned the degree of badness that all this implies?" Tifa waved a hand back behind her head to indicate the battle behind their makeshift barrier. "And what's that? Gotten into Cloud's hair dye recently?"

"No kidding. And, what's what? _What _hair dye?" Diana wrinkled her nose, trying to appreciate her friend's attempt to make a joke. "He's my roommate, I think I'd notice…maybe…"

"Nah, I was just messing with you. _That_. Accident?" She pointed at the side of Diana's head. Diana's hand flew up to pat the side of her head. All that her fingers met was her hair pulled up into a tight ponytail.

Tifa pulled a chunk of hair from the ponytail around in front of Diana's face, which was hard considering its shortened length. Diana strained her eyes around, making a face in an attempt to see what in the name of Gaia Teef was talking about. Maybe she was just going schizo after all.

Okay, maybe they were both schizo. "Why the hell is my hair blonde?" she hissed through her teeth. Had Zack over-bleached his bedsheets or something? Oh damn, that sounded bad. She was going to have to explain all that to Tifa some time in the near future. "What's up with this?" she grumbled. Not like it made a difference, but as far as she knew, people's hair didn't just change color overnight.

"You've got a bleach-blonde streak going from behind your ear all the way to your ends." Tifa stated.

"Hell, I don't even wanna know. Freaking mutant genes," Diana grumbled, her mood spiraling gradually downhill. "Probably gonna wake up with a freaking extra limb one of these days… Damn it all to hell…"

Tifa winced as an explosion sounded. "I hope that was ours and not theirs," she sighed. "Hellhounds are most definitely an unfair advantage. I must say they've thought of everything in this war. Why didn't I get the brains? Half Wutaian and all I get are the looks? Big whoop-dee-friggin'-doo. Why don't I just jump in there and open a can of whupass on all of… Hey. Hey there. What're you doing?" Her large burgundy eyes widened as Diana straightened slightly out of her crouch.

"Zack said to stay out of trouble," her companion said grimly, wrestling her pair of black fingerless gloves out of one of her many pockets and yanking them on, flexing her fingers experimentally. "However, he forgot one very important detail." She semiconsciously ran one finger down and over her right cheekbone, tracing the scar there almost perfectly.

Tifa raised an eyebrow. This was going to be good, she could just tell. She hopped up, still bent over, with Diana.

Diana's eyes glinted the color of smoke and she smiled coldly. "I _am _the trouble." She bounced on her toes a few times, analyzing what she could of their immediate surroundings while staying both out of sight and, with any luck, safe. Satisfied, she nodded. "Diana Loveless, SOLDIER Third Class, is on the move," she crowed quietly, charging out from their cover and launching herself at the nearest enemy available with a yell.

She didn't know if Tifa followed (although she in fact had.) Quickly she fell into the rhythm of fighting in a crowd. Not like it was easy – it was extremely difficult to get used to. One always had to watch one's back…and left, and right, and front, and above, and quite conceivably below. Plenty to have to adapt to.

As she ducked under a random blade, Diana decided that running around hitting people wasn't going to solve much. A bunch of trigger-happy morons weren't going to do much good here. With any luck at all, she could figure out the core of the immediate crisis, get to it, and solve it before too many lives were lost. A Wutaian soldier spared her a confused glance, before she had to slam him out of the way, thwacking him on the side of the head in the hopes of knocking him unconscious. She plowed past a line of infantrymen with guns, to veer left to avoid engaging a hellhound. That was one workout she'd rather skip today.

Gunfire whistled only feet from her and she saw a handful of men attacking the hellhound. Unfortunately, that only pissed it off and it decided to charge, oh, say, right at her. Judging the distance and making a couple calculations, she pivoted to face right towards it. There was no escaping an angry animal once it had its course set on a moving target, so she planted her feet a shoulder's breadth apart and whipped out two compact handguns into her hands. The animal had some kind of natural protection in the form of what looked like plated armor around its head and back as well as horns on its forehead and shoulders, making it hard to aim for anything important without having the bullets ricochet off and do Gaia knows what instead.

_Wait for it…come on, bring it… _The hellhound roared in extreme irritation as it charged closer, its jaws opening wider than she wanted to see. _Oh, look. Whaddaya know – something important_. She fired quickly down the animal's throat, making it skid slightly in the dust and choke on its attack call. _Enough for now._ She darted off before too many of her comrades noticed her, and left the hellhound to them.

Diana spotted Zack in the middle of the fray in only an instant, and quite by accident. She couldn't believe how lethal he looked. He was swinging that especially large broadsword around like it weighed nothing, moving almost faster than her eyes could track. He was dangerous, yet so amazing.

Unfortunately yet again, she got her trademark 'really bad vibe' at the same time as she found him. Where was the trouble? _Where? Come on, look, look again…_ She had gotten and ignored this feeling several times too many in the past. She wasn't going to blow it now…

_Okay, keep scanning, get to Zack_. She felt like it was something to do with him – again, bad if ignored. If she didn't get to him in time, well, that had happened in the past, too. It wasn't good.

She was almost to the edge of the extent of the havoc that Zack was wreaking when she saw the rooftop sniper. The uniform logo? Definitely Wutaian. Weapon? Long-range gun. Aim? Straight on Zack.

Of course. Of course! What else could go wrong here? Did this scenario honestly just have to keep repeating itself to her? Dammit, dammit, she had to move faster, faster—! "Zack, _contact rear_!" she screamed at him, with nothing else coming to mind that could possibly get his attention.

He spun fast, always one to react instantly to a military command, but he wasn't searching far enough up to see the threat. So, naturally, she had to do something to get him out of the way. Especially because the sniper was cocking the gun ominously just then. So, naturally, the optimal course of action was to make an unorthodox tackle, thus losing her one of her handguns and taking Zack completely by surprise. Time plodded along to eventually stop for a moment.

They rolled over a couple times, and Diana turned it into a crouch that let her pick off the sniper with her remaining gun in two clean shots. "Sorry," she directed at Zack apologetically. "I have to help." And without another glance (because she did feel a little bad about just charging in like that when he had made it so clear that he wanted her far away) time began to churn again and she sped off and out of sight.

After a few more minor snags, Diana was running along a convenient ridge at the edge of a rooftop, three stories above the battlefield. She was pretty much safe for the moment…at least that was what she was trying to tell herself. _Now, where is the problem? Need to find the source… Where are they coming through and what's their main target? _Her mind began to sift through questions and theories in a detached, organized manner. _Hm…I think I've found the top-priority target._

Up ahead, she could see the tall iron gates into the main Shinra building. Not many people were completely sure what was in there – the President and Rufus Shinra and the Director supposedly lived there, along with a lot of top-secret stuff. Whatever. The important thing was that the Wutaians apparently had the idea that it might be good to break and enter, then either plunder or pillage. Or both. Which would be bad. But from the looks of things, they were still working on the breaking and entering phase. This was probably due to the fact that Genesis and Angeal seemed to be holding down the fort here. The two of them were trying to clear a perimeter around the gates, with help from some more SOLDIERs from inside who had presumably been stationed there on guard duty. They were likely the ones who had raised the alarm in the first place. Ignoring the carnage all around, she dropped down to the ground from an escape ladder, stumbling a little on the landing. She grimaced. _Just one more day and I'd be more than human, _she fumed_. Why couldn't they wait til after the dang mako treatments? Oh. Wait, did they do that on purpose? Now that's what you call either really good dumb luck or really good planning._

The only way to be of any use to the two Firsts looked to be to go ask them what was going on and how to help. Simple, easy to remember; right? But not so easy when 90% of the bodies to get through were enemies. But…she didn't look like much of anything, never mind something that gave away which side she was on. This could work… She only had one gun left and most of her other equipment was meant for a longer range. But with a little bit of luck, maybe she could be all right. _Gaia help me now, please, I really need it_. Ducking behind a lone fellow SOLDIER who was holding his own, she took the field of battle at a dead sprint, relying on her reflexes to get her where she needed to be and out before anyone took notice of her. Hissing at a slash that landed on her arm out of sheer misfortune, she prayed harder and shot at a few pairs of feet, wreaking a good amount of desired havoc. No one seemed to notice the liquid black shadow slipping through the crowd.

Coming up to the two SOLDIERs on Genesis' side, Diana realized that she'd probably get impaled before she could get a word out. She stalled by doubling back and tried to come up with a plan while narrowly avoiding a fairly large enemy wielding an equally large sword. Something smashed into her shin and she kicked out viciously, sending someone sprawling. _That's right_, she remembered suddenly. _These guys are just as ordinarily human as I am…_ Wait. The supposed secret to creating SOLDIERs…was supposed to be kept in the main HQ building. Oh, shit, was that what they were after? That had to be it. What else could help them in a war with such desperately mismatched odds?

Making a decision to go for the all-out obvious, she yelled "Angeal!" practically right in his face as she charged at his right side. She slid baseball player-style, careful to keep looking right at the big SOLDIER's face. It was a good thing, too, because recognition dawned too late on his face. If she hadn't ducked, the massive blade would have sliced her neatly in half.

Diana spun on her knees, making a shot behind her to take down one of the more daring Wutaians. "Hey, how's it going?" she yelled to Angeal over the noise.

"Diana?" he spluttered, continuing to fight with movements that were permanently wired into his brain while sparing her a disbelieving glance.

"Yeah, nothing's getting accomplished over there so I thought I'd try to see what the hell is going on here!"

"It's just me and Gen and maybe a few others, but—" he made a complicated maneuver while Diana fired off another round— "no one else is here because the enemy seems to have set up a kind of roadblock so that no one can get down here." _Hang on a minute, then how did she—? _he began the thought in confusion.

"That would explain the lack of backup. Can I do anything?" Diana watched a few of her well-aimed throwing stars find their marks as she reached for more, blocking the swing of a metal rod at the same time.

"If I had another SOLDIER, maybe even a Third Class, all we really need is a diversion, but—hey! Diana! What the hell do you think you're—" That was all Diana tuned in to. She wanted this over with and she wanted to do all she could to help. She was a SOLDIER Third Class. Not like Angeal knew that. Hah. Just watch. This would be something to remember…

And then she found the sword on the ground. It was a Shinra model, fairly new and somewhat large as well. Diana prayed it wouldn't be too much for her, and she reached for the hilt on the ground.

_-Several weeks earlier-_

_There was a knock on Zack's door. "Come in," he called out lazily. The door inched open and a brown head with a short ponytail poked its way in. "Dev? Hey, what's up?" Zack asked cheerfully but with a bit of confusion. It was late, probably past curfew for the cadets._

_"Um, I was thinking…I wanted to get some extra training time in and – 'cause I need more help than most, I guess – and I was, uh, wondering if I could borrow something?" Devon scuffed his foot on the floor, just like a nervous kid._

_"Sure thing, I did the same before I got into SOLDIER. Whaddaya need?" He flicked a piece of hair out of his eyes._

_"Would you mind if I, uh… borrowed your practice sword?"_

_"Huh?" Zack blinked at his small friend. His practice sword? But that thing was…_

_"I mean, it's okay if not, I just thought that maybe—"_

_"Oh, no, that's not it, just – Dev, that thing's huge. Are you sure?"_

_"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure."_

_Zack shrugged nonchalantly. "All righty then. It's all yours. Just be kinda careful, 'kay?" He retrieved his old sword from the corner and handed it to Devon._

_"Sure. Thanks, man." Devon backed awkwardly out the door, looking delighted nonetheless at his prize. The more Zack thought about it, the more ludicrous it seemed that his new friend was actually going to try to train with that thing. It was practically as big as he was! Still, he credited him for trying…_

-Present time-

The sword was of a good size, but not nearly as heavy as Zack's old practice sword. She hefted it like a pro (one of which she could quite easily be considered) and, with a yell, launched herself into the thick of the front lines.

Zack had finally gotten past the three hellhounds that were blocking the way to the main building, where he knew Angeal needed him. The indigo eyes found his mentor immediately, but he had to do a double take when he thought he saw Diana right next to Angeal. Yep, that was her—so she _had _been the one to tackle him earlier. _Should've known she'd get herself in here somehow_, he thought wryly. He had to admit she was an above-average fighter. _What a scary thought…_

And that was before he saw her pick up the sword. No actual words came to mind that described his feelings altogether. Amazement at her graceful yet lethal power. Fear for her safety. Incredulity at her strength. Anger at anyone who was trying to hurt her. And—okay, so it was hardly an appropriate time, but what was he supposed to do? —attraction just for being _her_. Well, he wasn't going to stand here all day being useless. So he started making his way toward Diana. She was creating quite a – what the _hell _was that?

Diana was having fun with heavy artillery. Semiautomatic rifles were generally not her thing, but hey, she was taking what she could get. Soon she lost interest in the big guns (no pun intended) and turned to some methods that involved just a bit more skill than loading, pointing, and firing. She had always been a handy pickpocket, and she had snatched a convenient handful of grenades. She pulled a pin out and chucked it in one direction, then did the same for another, and another, and another, trying not to hit any buildings. _Damn, this is crazy but this is _fun_! I am _so _sick-minded right now… Oh! Idea time. _Setting her course straight for the blockade of monsters that she had so easily avoided, she launched one more minor explosive at one of the hellhounds. She was raising some hell of her own, here, and the intention was by all means to draw attention to herself.

"Hey, big and stupid! Yeah, I'm talking to you! What you got? Come on, bring it!" Diana was riding a volatile high of insanity, and she was having none of the idea that her plan wasn't going to work.

What the hell does she think she's doing? Zack's thoughts were part panic, but mostly irritation and disbelief. _Is she trying to engage three monsters at once? No, she's not nearly stupid enough to do that without thinking. No…it's a distraction. She's trying to give the rest of us an opening._ Well, he had to help somehow.

"Di! I'm with you!" He ran in a curve to join up with her. "I can help!"

_What? Zack! _"Sounds good! Let's go take down a hellhound!" Yes, it was reckless, but that was the main ingredient in a successful diversion.

"What? Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea—"

"Not really, but do I care? Not really! I'm winging it, here; trying to create a diversion. Angeal's got some kinda plan going with Genesis. You in or not?"

"Yeah, sure, but what's _our _plan?"

"There isn't one!"

"Works for me! _Come and get it!"_

And they took on the world together.

**A/N: Victory shall be theirs...! (We hope.) :P Suspense is a killer, ain't it? I personally thought this was a pretty kick-butt chapter, so review please and tell me what you thought :) Thanks so much for reading!**


	22. Justify the Shattered Glass

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: No, I still haven't managed to lift the documents that say I can own all this and make money off of it. Not even the large bald man (*cough Ultimate cough*) But I'm working on the ninja skills.**

**A/N: I just have to say this, uh, not so quickly... NINTIETH REVIEW PARTY! Hahahaha, you can't imagine how happy it made me to hit 90! So I'm going to thank every reviewer that's reviewed this story :) Many thanks and love to: YourChemicalRomancex, xxDarkAssassinxx, fragmentsofmemories16, animechick247, Tek Sonay, LoveTheCrazy, Lychantrope, ZakuReno, PixieGirl17, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, kitten652, ShatterTheHeavens, Chostani-san128, A-Prayer-4-da-Damned, RennyPenny, Shadow of a Broken Angel, and of course the one who's always always always there for me-UltimateFreedom. Love you guys :) Anyhoo, I've been thinking about a new summary...suggestions, anyone? So this**** does end up being bit of a drabbley chap… but some of life's mysteries seem to be resolved. Hmmmm. So enjoy and review, please! :)**

**Chapter 22: Justify the Shattered Glass**

**-Twenty minutes later-**

It hurt like hell. Probably not nearly as bad as when she had landed herself in the hospital after saving Zack that time in Wutai, but still pretty bad.

She was lying on the ground and something board-like was over her, trapping the clouds of dust that were making her wheeze and half blinding her. She didn't know where she was, only that something had exploded…things had flown or been blasted anywhere and everywhere… Something had hit her on the head. Something had bruised her in several places, and something else had added to the collection of slices that marred her skin. And something was making a grating, shuffling noise and whatever was covering her shook and tipped to the side, exposing her to clean air. She gasped in relief and tried to haul herself upright, her ears still ringing from the explosion. Everything was blurry and hazed over. Even the sounds were fuzzy and sounded like badly taped recordings. Someone was saying her name…

"Di? Di? Come on, talk to me, here. Look at me."

"She just got half a wall dropped on her, give her a sec."

"Yeah, her breathing should be clearing now."

She tried to speak, but all that came out was a hacking cough. She gagged and expelled some of the dust from her lungs with relief, her vision returning gradually. A sight for sore eyes greeted her.

It was Zack. (Who else?) He grinned broadly with what looked like relief when she finally focused on his eyes.

"Whoa," she croaked. She coughed again, much to the appreciation of her lungs. "Hey. I'm not dying. What are you all looking at?" She grinned at them gratefully all the same.

"Now that," Shane declared, "was _ruh-dikkulus_."

"Yeah, you're so ghetto," his other half known as Max snorted.

"I specialize in the ridiculous," Diana chuckled. "I trust you've told them all about me in the past, oh, minute and a half?" she directed at a Zack who was trying too hard for his full mental health to conceal his emotions.

He shrugged casually. "Did my best."

"He was right about—" Max began stage-whispering not-so-surreptitiously to his other half known as Shane before his friend cut him off.

"She's not deaf, you know," Cloud snorted. As if on cue, Tifa appeared behind him, slipping her hand into his. He didn't even turn, only smiling and squeezing her hand back as if he had been expecting her all along. Which he very well might have been.

"All these lovebirds, what are we gonna do?" Max turned in mock horror to Shane.

"Third wheels unite!" Shane crowed. They did that exploding fistbump thing, complete with sound effects.

Letting Zack help her to her feet, Diana thought of something a bit more on the important side than her injuries. "It's over, right?" Zack nodded. "Please tell me they've got the perimeter secured by now." He gave a one-worded affirmative, his expression unusually distant. "Hello… Zack? You in there?" She waved a hand in front of his face.

"Huh? What? Oh. Sorry. I was just…never mind." His eyes kept flicking to something over her shoulder.

"What are you looking at—?" Diana went to turn and didn't miss when Zack almost reflexively tried to stop her from doing so. She kept turning.

The aftermath of a real battlefield looks nothing like the movies.

Diana didn't care to look for too long, but she could handle it. "I'm fine," she said a little quieter than she'd meant to.

"You sure?" He looked unnecessarily worried.

She looked up at him slowly. "What's worse?" An unintentional pause while she swallowed hard. "A field full of strangers…or a single lifelong loved one?" It was a stupid thing to say. Of course that wasn't simply rhetorical, or theoretical, or even answerable. How was he supposed to respond to that? She had just given him a huge look into herself and she couldn't decide if she liked that or not.

Zack looked extremely taken aback by her depth, and Diana could tell that he knew that the question wasn't simply hypothetical. "Oh, Goddess…" he murmured. "Just…just come here." He gathered her into his arms and held her tightly, pressing his face into her hair. Extremely well-concealed angst was rolling off her in waves, but it wasn't like he was going to tell her that her cover was blown. To him it was, at least. How could someone so stoic, so utterly untouchable and not to mention dangerous, seem as fragile as glass when the right words were spoken? Glass that was already cracked and seemed to be threatening to come shattering down with the slightest touch, the smallest shiver? Glass that contained so many colors if the light hit it the right way, but just reflected everything back in unbroken cold clarity if it was turned another way. "I'm not going to pry now," he murmured down into her ear. "But I don't want you to be hurting. Talk when you feel like it. 'Kay?"

Diana could have cried. Not like she was going to. But if she was the person she used to be, she would have. Why did he have to act so perfect? He was being sensitive, and understanding, and wonderful, and – loving? No no, scratch that thought. _Forget you thought _that _word._ Was it okay that he knew that much about her by now? After all, it had been a while since they were together, right? Well, _together _together or just regular together, depending on which way you looked at—?

"We got this all cleaned up here, yo."

Diana turned to look over Zack's shoulder. He tried to do the same, giving them the unfortunate appearance of two teenagers being caught making out by the parents.

Of course it was Reno. Who on earth else would it be? Of course the Turks were in on this. They specialized in espionage, right? This was kind of a big break for them.

"Thanks, Reno. I sure feel safe now," Zack said with over-killed sarcasm, lightening the mood right away.

"Look on the bright side – at least it's only half the Super Spy Squad that's arrived so far," Diana remarked, glancing at the half dozen or so Turks behind the redhead. With a start, she recognized Vincent, taking a minute to come up with his name. Freaky Vampiric Guy In A Cape seemed to stick a whole lot better than Vincent Valentine. He looked more distracted than the other Turks, throwing repeated glances and phrases at a petite Wutaian girl a little younger than Diana who was scampering around. Diana stifled a snicker when Vincent barked an order at the strangely familiar girl and she turned around to stick out her tongue and make faces at him like a five-year-old. Poor guy, stuck trying to keep that girl under control. She absently wondered why anyone needed to have Vincent's apparent babysitting job in the first place, and then who in the Lifestream had it in for him so that is was him in this position?

"Yeah, yeah, you're funny…hey, don't I know you?" Reno snorted at Zack, then peered at Diana's face.

"Seventh Heaven. Or were you _entirely _too wasted to remember any of last night?"

"Ah, got it, got it, yo. Got it." Reno appeared to 'get' much more than the reason she looked familiar, casting glances at Zack's arm still around her shoulders.

"Reno. Let's move." A large bald man who practically reeked of 'bodyguard' with his dark shades and headset had joined the redhead.

"Fine, yo. Let's move," he sighed. As he exited with his crowd of minions, he signaled back to Diana cheekily with the 'call me' sign. She stuck out her tongue childishly at him, just for fun. He held up his hands in surrender, still grinning, and turned back around to walk away.

"I can tell you guys are tight," Zack said in mock seriousness, holding up his free hand with two fingers crossed together.

"Oh yes. Very." Diana nodded somberly. "But who's the baldie?"

"Rude." Tifa came up behind her friend.

"Beg pardon?"

"Yes, that's his given name."

Diana snorted. "Yowch." She blinked at the sudden absence of their favorite chocobo. "Where'd Cloud go?"

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Off with manly men to do manly things."

"Niiiice." After a few seconds of thought, Diana remembered something else important. "Wait a sec—Zack, why exactly is it that everyone was entirely unprepared for what happened today?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Angeal filled me in while we were looking for you. You know how practically all of SOLDIER was out at one bar or another last night?"

"Yeah—typical weekend thing, right?"

"Exactly. Well, the Wutaians apparently have some kind of inside source, because nearly all the imports to Shinra from yesterday were drugged."

"Drugged? You mean, like, the alcohol, and…"

"Yup. Even the cafeteria food," he wrinkled his nose. "All the popular SOLDIER hangout spots, as well as places on our actual property…all the daily imports."

"…Whoa. That requires some serious planning. And since we were all so out of it this morning, they had a major loophole of time to work in," Diana said pensively.

"Precisely. It was smart. Kinda sucked for us, but hey, look who won in the end. There's irony for ya."

"Yo, Zack! C'mere!" someone yelled from across the yard.

"And I do believe that's my cue to go join the manly men," Zack chuckled. "Will I see you later?"

"Sadly, that's an unknown. I'll…call you. Yeah." Diana raised her head and smiled at him.

"Sounds good to me. See you later, dragonfly." Zack smiled even more inwardly than outwardly. Diana did such a good job of taping up those cracks in her inner shell that was made of such well-disguised glass. He wondered how much effort it cost her to keep using that tape, and how hard it would be for him to get his hands on some superglue. Or how hard it would be for Diana to let him put it to use for her sake before that roll of tape ran out.

With a sudden thought and without warning, he turned back and snatched Diana around the waist and picked her up, pressing his mouth to hers unexpectedly. There was a second of surprise, then she kissed him back, sliding her hands over his shoulders to run a hand through his dark hair.

Zack concluded, from the subsequent whistles and such from the peanut gallery, that young people just didn't have enough entertainment these days. He had to put Diana down eventually, and he held onto her hand for an extra second before jogging off.

Diana suppressed a sigh and turned to Tifa to hide her slight embarrassment. This generally wasn't something she did, never mind in public. "Teef. I need something."

"An electric fence to keep your Puppy closer?" Tifa asked insolently yet innocently.

Diana smacked her hand over her face. "Coffee!" she roared from behind the hand. "I am in need of _coffee_, STAT!"

"Hey, you're the boss," Tifa muttered. "Let's go, then. Let's…" she glanced around. They had all been pretending they weren't conversing on the edge of the aftermath of a time of death and destruction. It was time for some reality. "…Get out of here."

She caught her friend's drift and started walking away from the scene hastily. "You're right. And speaking of, I need to tell you what happened before you saw me this morning…"

"It's on for tomorrow instead." 'Devon' announced, crashing on the couch in the dorm. "They want us to all be official and stuff as soon as possible."

"Great. I was all worked up about today, and now…ah, whatever. Same difference." Shane shrugged. "Damn, you look beat up. What'd you do, get thrown into a blender?"

"Yeah, I bet that's it. Seen any giant blenders around, dorkass? I seem to have misplaced mine." Max marched across the floor, hands on waving hips.

"Oh, shut it—"

"Anyway. Did you guys both miss the whupass festival this morning?" Diana stared around at them. "Generally in that scenario you get kinda beat up. And hellhounds aren't exactly cute and fluffy and well-trained, if you noticed."

"Man, you were there?" Max made a face. "We missed a lotta the real action, but we didn't see ya afterwards."

"Yeah, I couldn't find you guys. Got stuck somewhere for a while, then I got lost 'cause I didn't recognize the buildings that were still intact," she snorted. "I just came back here," she shrugged.

"Did you take on one of those hellhound things?" Shane spun on the floor to face her, registering what she had said about the monsters. "Dude, those things are killer, man."

"Oh believe me, I know," she remarked dryly. She pushed up a sleeve to reveal bandages wrapped around something that was still seeping through. Underneath were three deep, long claw gashes. "Sooner I get that mako stuff, sooner I'll heal."

Cloud nodded. "True fact. At least it's tomorrow. That's good."

"Yeah, I asked Angeal about that." Diana was rather pleased that she got along with the big SOLDIER. He was actually just a big pushover if he wasn't trying to beat you to a pulp. And he seemed to approve of her well enough, be she male or female at the given time. "And speaking of asking…I need to go visit someone. Later!"

Twenty minutes later, Diana was off the plate and down into the Sector Five slums. Not usually the most optimal place to be, but she was looking for an acquaintance and was praying hard that she would be there.

Crowd weaving came easily to her, and all systems were go in respect to anyone who might try to pull a fast one on her. So far, all her pockets were secure. That didn't mean they would stay that way. Diana was dressed inconspicuously in her favorite jeans and a t-shirt. When she was younger, she was self-conscious about wearing tank tops, but now she thought she really had had no excuse back then. Now she avoided wearing them to conceal her well-built shoulders and upper arms. She wasn't scarily bulked up or anything from training, of course, but she was a lot more fit than an ordinary person and she didn't exactly want to draw attention to herself at the moment.

And there was her destination…she hoped. Passing a few more street stalls and slipping past three children playing underfoot, she came into a more open place that almost looked like a town square, except that there was nothing else around but a huge church. That looked to be the place.

Picking her way across the ruins of a shack clumsily made and destroyed a while ago, Diana squinted into the sun hanging at about sixty-five degrees over the still far-off walls of the city. It was maybe two in the afternoon. She had plenty of time.

The church was even bigger up close, its grandeur somehow not quite lost across the ages of time that should have weathered and withered it away. Diana didn't dare open the tall wooden door more than a foot, and even so it creaked hollowly.

All the benches were still mostly intact inside, and white stone pillars that she probably couldn't have come close to encircling with her arms still lined the sides of the sanctuary. The pulpit was no longer in existence, and the edge of the dais was crumbling slightly over by the steps to the left. The stone floor was scratched and worn down beyond belief, but the foundation must have been strong, because this giant structure wasn't going anywhere soon.

Diana stepped into the church with silent footsteps that somehow still left an echo, taking in the impossibly high vaulted ceiling. It was wooden and looked to be weakening gradually, except for one spot that looked recently redone. Or patched up, Diana thought, drawing her line of sight down to an area where the pews either abruptly ended or had been cleared away. There was grass coming through, a hard sight to come by in Midgar, and yellow and white flowers dotted the expanse of green. She assumed it was from the spot of sunlight that somehow leaked through a gaping hole in the roof: something else difficult to find in the slums of Midgar.

"Hello," a voice suddenly chimed from…where _was _it coming from? "I've been expecting you, you know. It's about time you turned up."

A girl about Diana's age stepped out of the shadows, carrying a metal bucket in one hand. She was wearing a white summer dress and a pink ribbon in her long braid.

"Aerith? Oh, thank Gaia, I hoped you'd be here— Oh." Diana actually slapped her hand over her mouth, not believing that she had just blurted like that. She suddenly looked around warily, feeling some odd presence. It wasn't dangerous. Just…unbearably strong. It was catching her off guard wherever she turned, and it was starting to bug her.

"It's okay. You don't have to pretend here," Aerith tittered. "You have enough to try to pretend about in other places."

"I…uh, I don't know—"

"Don't be silly." Aerith tilted her head to the side, half in curiosity as to the other girl's reaction, half in what seemed to be like listening to something.

Diana had to catch herself from falling over backwards. She stumbled and hissed under her breath. Any emotion that got its hold on her was ten times stronger all of a sudden. Was it that weird presence doing it? What was it? It was freaking her out, and she didn't like it. It was making her feel more hollow than she had in a while since that awful day months ago. She tried to wrap her arms around her middle if only to keep herself together, because it was painful. A gasp escaped through her lips and she bit them as hard as if she were trying to keep her very soul inside her.

"You're in pain…why, though?" Aerith moved closer to her, concern crossing her delicate features. "It's okay…can you sit? Here."

Diana sank onto a cracked pew, eyes staring and seeing but registering nothing. She didn't want to relive this…not now…not ever…

**Sometimes we must face things once and for all.**

Diana looked around wildly, still blinded by the all-too-tangible, too-vivid images flashing through her mind.

**Oh, my child…you have much to learn about yourself yet. Facing our fears is the least we can do for ourselves.**

_I don't _have _any fears! I wouldn't want to face them even if they did exist. Which they don't. Fear makes you weak, and I'm _not _weak. I _refuse _to be afraid—!_

**We will talk soon. Acceptance is the first step to solving a problem, and you have not yet learned to accept. Think about this. It will help you, in the end. Take care, my daughter.**

All of a sudden, that presence was gone and Diana still couldn't tell what it had been. Her vision cleared and she gasped for breath again, turning wildly to Aerith.

"Oh, no… It's all right. You're all right," Aerith soothed, taking one of Diana's hands and patting it softly.

"Ugh. What the…what was that?" It didn't feel right to curse in a place like this.

Aerith sighed and shook her head. "The Goddess has her hand on you, doesn't she." It was much more of a statement than a question requiring affirmation.

"That's what that was? Oh, jeez…" Dian held her head in her hands, still reeling from the encounter.

"That's not a bad thing… Oh, by the way. I'm Aerith." She smiled sweetly and stuck out her hand.

"I…hi. I'm Diana," she eked out weakly.

"Oh, I know. I know exactly who you are."

Diana's head popped right up at that. Aerith had put just a little bit too much emphasis on that last sentence to be entirely coincidental.

And Aerith knew that she thought so, too. "I do know everything about you, Diana. I just…don't understand it." She frowned slightly.

Diana straightened in defiance. "I don't know what you're saying, and I don't know why, so why don't you explain that first?"

Aerith shook her head, smiling softly. Her braid whished from side to side. "The Ancients have always had a strong direct connection to the Planet. I know a lot of things. …Devon."

Diana's gray eyes widened infinitesimally and she pressed her lips together. After a few seconds of indecision, she rapped out, "Who told you?" She couldn't imagine her friends giving away her secret.

"Like I said. I'm one of the Ancients. There isn't much that can be hidden from me. Sometimes I get images. I call it Seeing, since I've never had anyone to teach me about it – for real, I mean. I was…really just curious. I decided to take a closer look for once." Taking a real look at her, Aerith had to be younger than Diana, or else sheltered beyond belief. Or perhaps both. She still acted like a young, unsure teenager, even for all the advantages that she appeared to possess. "You know, most of what is told to me isn't of my concern. Maybe if there were more of my race… Maybe it all just piles up and all of a sudden has to be put _some_where. Like letters in the mail."

"I – I – okay. Okay, I think I get it. How did you, uh…find out about…" Diana fairly stammered. Okay, so Aerith really did mean well, but wasn't that still just a bit unnerving that a being had such a close relationship with the essence of the Planet itself?

"About you pretending to be Devon?" Aerith asked innocently.

_Ooookay, we can just come out and say it bluntly, too. That works. Sure_. "Er, yeah, that would be it."

"I was just checking in on Zack one day and—" The girl gestured vaguely around her head to signify that she hadn't been actually going to physically see Zack, then stopped suddenly and her cheeks turned light pink. "—oh. I mean, I've known him a while, and…um…"

Diana sighed and smiled. Naturally. Zack had mentioned something once, that he and Aerith went way back. Apparently she was rather…attached to him as well. She made a mental note to revisit the topic at a less pressing time, and said, "Go on."

"Ah, anyway. I Saw you in the middle of things…but then I saw who was supposed to be Devon Loveless…and I got confused. I could See through anything you tried to use to hide yourself from the world. Well, of course I got a big hint from when you were in the hospital those few days."

"Yeah, that would do it." Diana laughed, the sound still slightly nervous.

"Mm-hm." Aerith bobbed up and down happily, her mood lightening. "But _I'm _not gonna tell anyone. It's your secret, right?"

Diana exhaled in relief. "Really? Oh, thank goodness – I mean, I didn't think you would, I'm just careful, you know?"

"Well, _I _think it's kind of amazing." Aerith sank with measured grace onto the pew next to the other girl. "_You're _amazing, for doing this. Why?"

Diana blinked at the abruptness of the question. "Well, it was always Devon's dream to become part of Shinra. He wanted to be a SOLDIER. When he died…I had already felt like I had to kind of prove myself to the world, you know? And I felt pressured, like I had both our lives to live out. Besides, I needed to…get away. I don't know from what. From home? From all the memories that just wouldn't stop echoing around everywhere I looked? I don't know. But that's what I did, anyway."

"And so what now?" Aerith asked quietly, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"I'm not telling the truth to everyone. Not yet," she declared firmly. "Well, Tifa knows – you know Teef, right? Yeah. And Cloud – he's my roommate, so I had to break it to him eventually. But that's it. And now, you." She smiled a little.

"And now you're a SOLDIER," Aerith murmured.

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. It's actually still pretty cool to think about. But that's why I came here. I wanted to ask you some things." Diana tucked her hair behind one ear and fidgeted around to face Aerith.

"Of course," the brunette chirped. "Anything."

"Well…where to start…okay, the mako treatments."

"Uh-huh."

"I don't know much about them. What are the main effects and why? I don't need the whole scientific picture, just the basics."

"Don't worry, I don't get science, either." Aerith wrinkled her nose. "The main purpose is superhuman strength, if you want to call it that. You can run faster, jump higher, everything. But what's really interesting is that the regenerative powers you get are amazing. You can watch a cut heal before your eyes, for instance."

"Naturally, useful if you're in the military business."

"Exactly. And your vision is much more than perfect, actually closer to an animal's than a human's. Same for your hearing."

"This sounds suspiciously like a perks-only perspective. What's the catch?" Diana thought that all that sounded pretty damn amazing. No wonder Shinra was downright hostile when it came to keeping company secrets.

Aerith smiled. "It can be hard to say. If you're receiving the treatment in a safe, controlled environment, you should be perfectly fine. People have experimented before, tried to create superhumans on their own. It always fails."

"_Always?_" That didn't seem right. There had to be _some_one outside the company who would get it right once in a while, right? Unless Shinra just hunted down those with the ability and…she didn't really want to carry on that train of thought.

"Always. There's something really, really secret that gets put into the mix, too. Some kind of special cell, I think. No one else has access to it, so any attempts at mako enhancements turn into horribly failed, mutated experiments." She shook her head sadly. Diana could tell that being so in tune with the Planet and its life had made the gentle girl an even more sensitive person.

"Failed experiments, huh?" Diana said grimly. "Hm. But it's just like a well-performed surgery – everything goes right how it's supposed to if you know where to go."

Aerith brightened and nodded. "Uh-huh! So you're more than fine. The only _real _catch…depends on the person him-or-herself."

"Uh. Great? What do you mean?" Diana leaned back slightly, wary all over again.

"If your mental constitution isn't strong enough when you receive the treatment, well…you'll get mako poisoning. You know about that, right?" Aerith fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Oh. That. Mentally strong, huh?" Diana said uneasily.

"I wouldn't worry," Aerith reassured her confidently. "You are strong; I can tell. You can more than handle just about anything. Trust me."

"Um. Good to know. I just wanted to be sure what I was getting myself into, you know?"

"I completely understand. Anything else you want to know?" She laughed lightly. "I feel like one of those boring doctors on a talk show!"

"Oh, definitely, I was thinking there might be a problem, 'cause…" Diana exhaled forcefully. Life was so dang full of problems sometimes. "Obviously they've never done a treatment on a female before." She gestured at herself. "How in the name of Gaia am I supposed to handle walking in there and letting them knock me out?"

"Wellll…" Aerith tapped her chin. "I _am _working tomorrow. I'm thinking I might just have to beg for a spot in the lab in the morning. …You know what? Don't worry about it. I'll have you covered."

"Oh, my gosh, really?" Diana's eyes widened gratefully. "Would you? Oh, thank you so much. I'm feeling safer already…"

"Glad to help," she smiled sweetly.

"Oh, oh, and before I forget!" Diana waved a hand. "So I might be completely awkwardly off base about this, but is it just me, or are all the SOLDIERs reeeeally unbelievably attractive?"

Aerith giggled. "_So _right! But really. I'm pretty sure that's more of the genetic enhancement talking there."

Diana sniggered. So she wasn't going (completely) insane after all! Oh, Goddess, some of them were _so fine_— oh, wait. She came to a screeching halt. "Oh fudge. Then what does it do to me? Please tell me it isn't gonna turn me into a man!" She looked horrified until reason took over. "Wait, no, that doesn't make any…sense…"

Aerith hummed in amusement and chuckled lightly. "Now that, I'm sorry but I don't know. We'll have to wing that part. I'm sure you're more than used to doing that by now."

"Yeah. No kidding," she snorted.

"What's it like?" Aerith propped her head up on one hand.

"Being a guy? It's a lot to try to adapt to. Putting it lightly." She laughed. "No, really, I've hung around Devon and his friends for…nineteen years. I always did fit in better with the boys anyway. That's what you get!" She shook her head and smiled at the memories.

"Wow. I could never even consider doing what you've done," the other girl said quietly.

"Well, honestly? Hope that you never have to."

Aerith hummed in acknowledgment.

"…Speaking of."

She looked up. "Yes?"

"I've got more problems than mako and surgeries."

"Oh, dear. What else?" Aerith's brow wrinkled.

"You do know how Dev's and my genes were messed with, right?"

"Of course. You're lucky to have turned out as well as you did," she said earnestly, stopping herself at the thought of what Hojo _could have _done.

"Hm. Yeah, see, that's just the thing." Diana made a face. "Can you see how this part of my hair looks kinda funny?" She held out a chunk coming from behind her ear.

Aerith leaned closer. "It does look a little damaged, and the color isn't quite right, but…"

"That's because I had to run to the nearest drugstore as soon as I could this afternoon and grab the closest color to my hair as I could. Aerith, I woke up this morning with a bleach blonde streak in my hair. I never did _any_thing to it."

"I see." She could see where this was going, all right. "So what's your diagnosis as of now?"

"My opinion? I think my genes are acting up. I mean, isn't it enough for the texture or whatever to change practically hourly? Does it have to—_can _it—change _color_?" Diana all but squeaked in frustration as the pitch of her voice rose steadily.

"This hasn't ever happened before." The brunette's question was more of a confirming statement.

"No. Definitely not."

"I believe you. In that case, I'd say you should buy some more of that dye and use it on all your hair. We won't want a more noticeable repeat incident of this, so match the color as best you can, okay?"

"Yeah, definitely. Gaia forbid I wake up completely blonde… Ugh. That's not in any way a pretty picture." She shuddered in mock dread.

Aerith laughed, then simmered down and thought of something. "What about your eyes, then? Have you noticed anything unusual lately? Maybe Tifa has said something. I know you two are pretty close."

"Um… Well, there's something to think about… Too bad I can't see them." Diana wrinkled her nose. "…That was stupid. Let me think a second." As kids, both her eyes and Devon's had stuck around the gray-to-green range. Hers tended more toward gray, while Dev's were greener, and they switched on occasion, but nothing drastic had ever happened. Well—oh, wait. "That time with Tifa…" In the bathroom in her dorm…

"Purple," she stated bluntly.

"I…wait. Purple? Isn't that a bit unusual?" Aerith cocked her head to the side. "Wow."

"Definitely purple. And…" That time with Tifa after her date with Zack. _"Your eyes are blue," she commented._ "Blue."

"Ooookay, I'm thinking that that counts as both recent and drastic. Any particular connections between the times they changed that dramatically? What was going on at the time?" Aerith leaned back, folding her hands neatly in her lap.

"Well, the purple time, I was really, really sad…I had gotten to thinking about Devon, and everything just kind of overwhelmed me…It wasn't good. Oh, but the weird thing—I meant to ask you, too. So I went into the bathroom that night while Tifa was there with me, trying to get me to cheer up. I looked in the mirror, and this one time I looked, I swear to Gaia I saw Dev's face right next to mine in the reflection." She rushed on. "Like, maybe it was just me going schizo, but Cloud said people can talk to us through the Lifestream…is that right? Is that _normal_?" She absently reached up and touched the scar on her face.

Aerith smiled gently. "Cloud is smart. He was partially right. If you want to call it that, then yes, it does happen. But I'm not sure how 'normal' it is. I have such a connection with everything to do with the Lifestream that it's hard to tell what others perceive as 'normal,' really… What happened after that?"

Diana made a face. "I went and passed out. Just like that." She snapped her fingers. "I think it was shock added on to stress that did it."

"Okay," Aerith said comfortingly. "That sounds just fine. Now what about the blue time?"

"The blue—oh. Oh, that…" She was sure she was starting to turn pink. Now this was slightly awkward. "Er, I was happy. Yeah. Pretty happy. Excited. Pumped up. Energetic. Sure. Yeah. That stuff." _Oh, not obvious at all. Very subtle. Subtlety is key here, and you've got it mastered like materia. Absolutely wonderful._

Aerith held back a giggle. "I see." She cleared her throat as a smile made its way onto her face. She knew that Diana knew that she knew more than she let on. But Aerith wasn't going to ruin her own fun. "So what I think we can get from that is…your moods. Different events, different reaction, different color."

"Wow. So I'm not just a random freak. I'm an organized freak," Diana said dryly.

"Well… Pretty much. _I _think it's neat." Aerith shrugged and shifted on the bench, apparently satisfied with the answers she had given and received.

"Hmph. Isn't there something that says to be careful what you wish for…?"

"Oh, I'm not wishing for anything. I just don't think you appreciate yourself enough."

Diana couldn't think of a comeback to that, just as she hadn't been able to when Tifa had told her the exact same thing before.

**A/N: The truth is revealed...kinda. Well, definitely less action this time around, but I have to say the beginning was a lot of fun. Thanks for reading and review please my angels! :)**


	23. New and Improved

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: If I ran the world like Shinra does, I'd brainwash everyone into thinking I was the owner/creator of FFVII and everyone would love me for creating such beautiful characters in such an amazing world for fanfiction writers to use :)**

**A/N: HOORAY for long chapters! Haha, good stuff, good stuff. Now, it isn't a spoiler that I'm going to say this, because it's obvious by the second line: iiiiit's mako time! (Dude, I really have to stop eating these goldfish. I just almost finished a whole bag since I got home from cross-country practice a little while ago.) So since I've never had an actual surgery or anything ('cause that's how I portray the mako treatments) I don't know quite what you feel, or what kind of crap you think of while you're under, or how awful you feel when you come out of anesthesia, but I tried, so let me know how I did, okay? :) And also a random crack humor scene following that, just for the sake of keeping our lovely SOLDIER friends sane. Hang on. Sane? Oh well. Anyway, enjoy and review please! -I know we can make it to 100 reviews this chapter! I know it!**

**Chapter 23: New and Improved**

**-Morning, Monday, 24 June-**

"Aw, Goddess, do I have to?"

"Of course you have to, you dumbass, today's Mako Day—"

"LET'S GO—!"

"That's what I've been saying, you little—"

"Bacon! I need bacon! Dev! Where's the rest of the bacon!"

"Heck, I dunno, why don't you ask—"

"Bacon! Hey, moron! Hand over the bacon and no one gets—"

"Never! My bacon! Come and—"

"We're supposed to be there in a minute and forty-two seconds—"

"Give it here, now!"

"Fight ya for it, you—"

"Thirty-nine, thirty-eight—"

"SONOFA—"

"_Duck and cover_!"

Four bodies instantly dropped to the ground. Well, in all honesty, one made an epic if fruitless dive that was likely completely unrelated to the order, but he still hit the deck all the same.

"Now that's more like it!" a wide-awake, disgustingly large and cheerful Zack crowed from the doorway.

"Yes, Drill Sergeant Fair," Shane muttered darkly. "Whatever you say, Drill Sergeant Fair."

"Noooo…" Max moaned, rolling over and despairing at his failed attempt at snatching the much sought after bacon.

"Thought I'd drop by, show you guys where you're going." Zack cocked his head in the universal 'over there' gesture.

"Sure. Come on, drama queen, let's move it." Cloud prodded at Max while a disgruntled Diana picked herself up and marched haughtily out the door after Zack. She grabbed her green jacket on the way out.

The science buildings and labs were next to the main HQ building. Diana observed that Shinra sure was efficient when it came to grounds management. The only evidence of a battle having taken place there the day before was a wall that had been half demolished by one of the larger explosives. Although honestly, even if the physical carnage might disappear, the ground would always be stained with blood. The hairs on the back of Diana's neck stood up as the thought crossed her mind.

"What is this, a bad sci-fi remake?" Cloud muttered to Di as they met up with the waves of newly appointed Thirds arriving at Building Two. "Dungeons and test tubes. Oh boy." He wrinkled his nose.

True to Cloud's opinion, an average-looking scientist in (what do you know) a white lab coat was leading the small crowd into Building Two and down into what Diana would have thought to be a basement. The space actually expanded impressively underground, branching off into different divisions. She tried not to look into any doorways, but when she did, she was relieved that nothing that she spotted inside skeeved her. She began pep talking herself.

_This is going to be perfectly fine. Just think of what Aerith said yesterday. It's completely safe and controlled, one hundred percent guaranteed. Nothing weird here; it's Shinra. This is the company I work for now. And Aerith's going to be here watching me anyway. I trust her with just about anything. She helped save my life before, and Cloud's and Zack's too. So it's all fine._

Diana tried breathing calmly and deeply in through her nose and out through her mouth, but then a door opened and a wave of smells assaulted her nasal passages.

_Ohhh shit oh shit oh shit no no no no no not good not good shit no no no_

Cloud saw his friend stiffen out of the corner of his eye. Di's eyes were wide open, pupils shrunken in dark gray, and darting every which way wildly. Looking for an escape route. He reached out quickly and touched her arm subtly. Her head immediately snapped toward him, nostrils flared and expression entirely on edge. As soon as she saw him, a calming look on his face, her teeth unclenched and she shut her eyes for a second. She breathed through her mouth. Then her eyes opened again and she elbowed Cloud back in what he took to be gratitude. Her irises relaxed back into a mossy gray-green color, though no one saw so.

"If they try to strap us down to lab tables, I swear to Gaia I'll take out the entire freaking room," she growled in a low voice as their part of the group split off into a room that looked comfortingly similar to the hospital ward where Di had stayed. Aerith was in there with a few more scientists. A small smile tried to creep its way onto Diana's face. That girl was downright amazing.

The first scientists introduced himself, the complicated name sticking in no one's head, and went on to briefly explain the procedure. It was basically a dumbed-down version of what Aerith had told Diana the afternoon before. Professor Whatshisname assured the young men—_Or as he so foolishly believes_, Diana couldn't resist cackling in her head—that it was performed just like any hospital practice. Anesthesia plus a knockout drug, big secret stuff that the scientist skillfully skimmed over while making it seem like he thoroughly explained it, then something nasty afterwards to wake them up.

"Post-procedure sickness is expected, and may come on quite strongly depending upon the individual," he was continuing on in a slightly nasally but well-composed voice. "You were not chosen simply for your abilities as a future SOLDIER. Your superiors have judged you to be mentally strong enough to handle these treatments. Not all strength comes from the body, and often it is an odd ratio of that comparison that we find in people here. I expect you will all do quite well, so I wish you the best. Miss Gainsborough will handle where you're all going." He waved Aerith to his side.

She smiled sweetly at the group, clipboard in hand. "Actually, sorry, Professor—I have something to finish in the back. Would you mind just reading off the chart? Thanks." She floated off between the double doors in the far wall.

Halfway through the list, Aerith reappeared, hiding a giggle as the poor doctor stumbled his way through some of the less common names. She artfully got a word in edgewise as he got to the L's, and if Diana hadn't been waiting for the words, she wouldn't have even noticed the exchange.

"Loveless is a special case. I want him over on number nine; I'll be treating him by myself. I know everything about him and I don't trust anyone else enough to help me do it and do it right," the slight young woman fired off briskly.

"Uh—okay. Whatever you think is best, of course. Next…"

Diana pretended not to notice and concentrated on keeping her heart rate down for the moment. The smells of antiseptic, cleaning products, and something metallic were not things that she particularly enjoyed, even with the quite literally inborn instincts.

Several minutes later, all the youths in the room were thoroughly doped up on anesthesia. Diana had nearly blown her top when she caught sight of a syringe, but the fact that Aerith was the one administering it helped a lot. Her problem wasn't with the needle or the little pinch of the injection—her issue was with whatever it was being put into her. She supposed she could be considered unhealthily paranoid, but whatever. She was doing quite well, actually. And she hardly even noticed or panicked at all when her vision began to go blurry around the edges with black-and-purple spots appearing. After a few seconds, she was farther under than in the velvet black of a deep sleep.

**So you have decided to open your mind after all.**

_Huh?_

Diana looked around, dazed. Except she wasn't exactly looking…she barely felt attached to her own body. It was like floating, almost…in this weird, greenish light that she somehow found comforting…

Wait a sec.

_Where is this? What is this? Oh, for the love of Gaia, please tell me I'm not dead. I'm going to be really mad if I'm dead…_

…**Not exactly dead.**

_Not exactly? Am I in limbo? _She was finding some sense of familiarity in this place, creepy though it might be. Beyond the fluid waves of light (at least that was what they looked like) slowly undulating and pulsing, there was just eternal deep darkness, almost like a clear night sky. It might have been her imagination, but Diana thought she could pick out glimmers of what could have been stars. Limbo seemed like a pretty accurate term for this place, from what she imagined it to be like. It was so pretty…and relaxing. She was just drifting aimlessly, not quite feeling a ground beneath her feet, but not really caring, either. How long had she been here? It felt like no time at all, yet at the same time, forever…

Forever.

Hold the phone right there.

_What? Not exactly dead? What's going on here! This isn't right! I demand a lawyer! HEY, SOMEBODY! Oh, Goddess, this really does just make—_

—**You called?**

_Yeah, and I wanna know what's up! Wait. Who is this?_

**You were the one to call me.**

_Oh. Fantastic. Let's all just be cryptic and confusing, why don't we. Yes, sure, I called you. Whoever you are. Now for the love of Gaia would you tell me— Oh. Oh, wait. Oh, Goddess—_

**There you go again. Have you had enough hints yet?**

_Uh, sure. Well, deity or not, I can't talk to someone without seeing them. So, if you please._

There was no magical fog or sparkles—all of a sudden there was just another being in front of her. Diana took a step back. The green light glowed and rippled away from her feet like water as she looked down.

**As you wish.**

What was she supposed to think when an eight-foot-tall woman appeared in front of her with a presence that screamed of otherworldliness? She had waist-length platinum blonde hair that was being stirred by a mysteriously unfelt breeze, and was built like a supermodel. Of course. A golden yellow toga-like dress was draped around her, complete with sparkles this time.

_Diana was sure she'd never seen someone so perfect to be a goddess. Well, duh, you idiot. She _is _Gaia, after all. Either that or I'm severely tripping right now._

**I assure you this is entirely real.**

_Yeah, well, speaking of, am I dreaming? Please tell me I'm not dead, either,_ she added as an afterthought.

The goddess sighed. **No, my daughter, you are not dead. That would be too great a loss. Nor are you in the in-between place. You are very much alive, just not in actuality in this place.**

_That somehow relieves me. Thanks, I guess, but why am I here?_

**I simply wanted to know how you are doing on your journey.**

_…Journey._

**Yes.**

_…Right. What journey? Are you sure you don't have the wrong person? I really am fairly nondescript and therefore confusable with a good amount of other people..._

**As if someone could mistake you for anyone else, much less _I _make a mistake?**

_True, I suppose. But with all due respect, I have no idea what you're saying or what I'm supposed to be knowing._

She was silent for a moment, then seemed to be quoting something: "**Facing our fears is the least we can do for ourselves…"**

_Oh, no. That was…that was you?_ Diana had to force herself to look up straight in the goddess' eyes. They were a mind-blowing electric blue, the color of the sky. The color of the real sky.

**I only speak the truth. How goes, then, this journey for you? Or 'mission', if you will.**

_I meant what I said before about this,_ Diana thought (said?) tensely.

…**Very well. Then what about your other problems? You do seem to have a strong…aversion…to a few certain matters.**

_Er, you'll have to, uh, try me. Since I'm feeling a bit incapable of coming up with these things on my own._

**You grow closer to your friends each day. Yet there is one who you refuse to let in more that the rest; also, incidentally, the one who should have the most right to be closer to you. Why?**

_…If you're talking about Zack, I'm just being careful. No one can find out…especially not him. I'm still not sharing my secret. I don't know _when _it'll have to happen, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it._

**Even if your secret were not under such circumstances, you would still be hesitant. I know this. Now do you know why that is?**

Diana couldn't think of a thing to say or counter with.

**I see. Again your past hinders you, Diana Loveless. You cannot hide behind your name forever. At some point, you must learn to love.**

_I _do _love! _she thought in defensive indignance. _I have friends, and hobbies, and a family, and…and…_ It was obvious the part she was either unable or refusing to say.

**Learn to love, my daughter. It is not something to be feared. Good things come of it.**

_Hey, wait! Again with the fear thing—! _But the goddess was already flickering out into blackness, becoming part of the night sky laced with mako green, and Diana was rushing backwards, backwards, but fighting it all the same, reaching, reaching out for anything to anchor her. But there was nothing there, nothing at all, and as she fell she heard the echoes of voices around her, whispering, screaming, but all as if concealed behind a muffling veil. The voices of ones who had gone back to the Lifestream—the Lifestream? She tried to look around frantically to verify her thoughts, but the green glow was rapidly fading from around her, rushing forward as if into a vacuum, and she was still falling backwards, feeling slightly sick as she twisted and turned, all the while falling, falling...

Her back arched and she coughed violently, feeling grossly sick and grateful for the bucket by the bed. The acidic, burning odor of smelling salts lingered and irritated her nose, and she had a pounding killer headache that made her feel like she had an extra twenty pounds on her head. She retched again and groaned quietly, attempting to orient herself. She knew she was in a hospital-type bed, and something important had just happened.

Diana looked up quickly at a familiar female voice, vision wobbling slightly, and she sighed briefly in relief as a kind, delicate face came into focus, smiling reassuringly at her.

Right. Good, everything was good. Aerith had been fantastic.

A doctor walked by, administering orders left and right. "Okay, men, yes, you will be sick. Completely normal. Just wait for it to pass, a minute or two and the regenerative power should take over…"

Oh. That was what was important. She had just received a mako treatment. Hello. Trying to sit up, Diana had to make use of the bucket again. She muttered to herself and struggled into a half-vertical position. Everything was so sore. She felt like she had been hit by a truck, then been dragged several yards by a racing chocobo, and finally dunked in a vat of IcyHot. All of which (to some extent) she had in fact experienced in the past, but that was beside the point. She ached sorely. She stung slightly. And she tingled almost unpleasantly everywhere, seemingly inside and out.

Wow. Everything was so clear. She would have thought her vision would be blurry and she would feel drugged out, but honestly, she felt okay. More than okay, actually. Her headache had already reduced to a dull throbbing by now. She didn't feel energized, per say, but pretty dang good considering she had just come out of something equivalent to a surgery. Was it really over? All she remembered was blacking out after seeing that fluorescent light—which was really, really bright. She could actually see each of the little facets in the rectangular light cover. Come to think of it, they all reflected their own little color spectrums. How cool. She didn't know lights did that...

"How you doing?"

A response was on the tip of her tongue when she realized that no one was talking to her. Instead, her eyes automatically tracked the sounds to a doctor at the other end of the room. Way down there. Next to the fan, which was now stirring up a racket, and behind a group of chatting scientists who were presumably analyzing the Thirds' conditions. Hm. Odd.

"I see the super-acute senses have gotten through to you, at least." Aerith was back, making the rounds, and she stopped by a wide-eyed Diana.

Oh. "Oh, man, do I feel stupid," she muttered. "I was looking around like, oh, gee, everything is really clear…! Wow. Oh, my Goddess, this is so _cool!_" She grinned suddenly, just realizing something: that she, Diana Loveless, had just become the first woman to receive a mako treatment. And all in secret.

"Of course," Aerith laughed lightly. "I bet it's really something. The soreness should go away soon, too." She was right. Diana's limbs were getting some of their normal feeling back again, and she could move more easily. "Okay. Do you think you can stand? You don't have to. I just want to check your progress."

"Sure, I think I've got it." Diana swung her left leg carefully over the side of the cot. "Whoo. Head rush," she grinned, still riding a high of utter ecstasy.

"Don't strain yourself. Take all the time you need… Oh, your friend is awake. I'll be right back," Aerith tsked, hurrying off to help Max a few cots away.

Diana nodded before slowly pulling her torso up straight, focusing on her right leg. She moved carefully—even in this state she wasn't going to go and do something unnecessarily stupid—trying to bring it over to the same place as her left. One more push…there. She wiggled forward gingerly, trying to touch her toes to the floor.

She suppressed a squeak. The linoleum was freezing! Looking around to see who else she could see, she found Cloud—well, in truth, she found his hair first—across the room, looking rather dazed as he tried to sit up. Well, Diana wasn't lagging behind, anyway. She shrugged, and fidgeted until the bottoms of her feet rested on the floor. Wiggling her fingers and toes experimentally, her dwindling smile reappeared. She felt good. Slowly, slowly, she tried to put a bit of pressure on her feet, a little at a time. One of her ankles gave way and she sucked in a breath, rolling it tentatively. _Okay. Still good. Now try again. _Which she did, with more success. Within an excruciatingly long thirty seconds, she was fully standing. She was holding onto the rail of the cot for support as she tried to take a step.

Diana wobbled and Aerith was immediately at her side. "Oh my gosh! You're up! Are you doing okay? You sure you don't need to stay down for a minute?"

"No, no, I got this. I got this," Diana panted slightly.

"Of course you do. No; bad idea. You should rest," Aerith continued anxiously. "Especially since it's you; I _don't know_ what could happen!" she lowered her voice so that with any luck, the sound wouldn't even reach nearby mako ears.

"He's up, and _he's _up," Diana protested. "Really, Aerith, I'm fine—"

"Well, _you're _not him or _him_, so, no, you're not fine." She pursed her lips stubbornly.

"But I'm me. So I am fine." She got that stubborn set to her jaw, and with that, she proceeded to limp away as well as she could, Aerith trailing behind fretfully. "Hey man. Howzit going?" she directed to Cloud, who was looking somewhat paler than normal as he struggled to stand.

"Damn—you're up and around already? I—jeez," he huffed. In a flash, Aerith was supporting him, talking earnestly in her 'nurse voice'.

Diana shook her head and smiled, turning around to get her bearings back. Standing was easier now, and she wasn't wobbling anymore when she walked. She gave a small experimental hop up and down.

At least, it was supposed to be a small hop. Instead, she shot up several feet in the air. And just to make things worse, Diana was so taken off guard by this new development that her 'new and improved' muscles decided in midair that they forgot how to handle the impact of landing. So she ended up in a groaning heap on the floor.

"Dumbass," Cloud muttered somewhere in the vicinity of her left ear.

"D—Devon! What are you doing?" Aerith scolded her, stumbling over the name.

"Uhhhnn… Stupid… Ugh. I'm fine! Fine! It's all good!" Diana sprang back to her feet fluidly, hands up in a surrendering motion. Those who had noticed her predicament turned their attention away and she made a face at Cloud. "Not my fault I forget about the mako every time I come out of a state of unconsciousness."

"Still—dumbass."

"I'm not even gonna argue with that one anymore; sad though it may be, it's still the truth."

"Okay, men!" The head scientist was clapping his hands, standing at the end of the room with the door. "It looks like most of us are up and ready to go. You were all under treatment for approximately seventy minutes. The soreness and shaking that you are all feeling is entirely normal. As part of the quick recovery process, we'd like to get everyone up and moving as soon as possible—but please, don't overexert yourselves." He looked around, beaming. "Good, very good. Most times we have one or two who have some post-treatment problems. You've all done very well. Now, if everyone would please follow, if they can. Don't be shy to ask for assistance…"

Diana suppressed a snort. It was like telling a man to ask for directions. _Good luck with that one, buddy_, she thought, grabbing Cloud's arm without asking permission and slinging it across her shoulders to support him. He grimaced and rolled his eyes at her, but didn't complain.

The group made its way back through the corridors, up the stairs with a bit of difficulty, and finally into the sunlight of the compound. There were collective exclamations as they literally saw the sun with new eyes.

Diana squinted and shaded her eyes, but it didn't seem to help. Looking at Cloud, who removed his arm from across her shoulders and tried to do the same, she noticed his eyes.

_The _eyes. Mako eyes. The mark of SOLDIER. All names for something that could make people judge you in an instant. Someone could feel threatened and shrink away to the other side of the street in fear. They could give you the 'Shinra glare'. Or they could run up to you and fling their arms around you in gratitude for protecting their country. The last option didn't happen very often, but Diana had seen it before on occasion, and it looked like it was amazing to experience.

She made a mental note to find a mirror ASAP.

"Cool, right?"

Diana gave a start at the hyper, expectant voice next to her. "Oh, hey, Zack. Come to mock us in our states of disability?" she grinned lopsidedly.

"Nuh-uh, I'm not that mean." Zack wrinkled his nose. "How many fingers am I holding up?" He shoved a hand with two fingers held up into Cloud's face. The latter promptly went cross-eyed trying to focus.

"Uh. Uh… Four? Two. No, that's four. Two! No. Stoppit!"

Zack cackled and pulled back his hand. "Two."

"Whatever."

Diana was secretly marveling at how clear every sound was. Even the voices of her friends sounded different, like she could tell the pitches and cadences apart even more sharply than before. She got the feeling that she could pick them out of a crowd with ease. "This…is…so…awesome," she said under her breath, looking around in amazement. It was like seeing things, smelling things, hearing things for the first time after spending months enveloped in a black velvet cloth that muffled every sensation.

"No kidding," Cloud whispered back. Oh. Right. He could hear her just as clearly as she could him. This was going to be interesting.

"Impossible to keep secrets with this going on," Diana commented, hoping Cloud would catch on.

"Huh? Oh! Oh. Yeah. Cause, um. We can hear each other. All the time. Really funny. Cause, uh…yeah." Diana was proud that she didn't even need to kick him in the shin for emphasis, even if he did fail slightly at playing along convincingly.

"Ah, don't sweat it. It's a lot of fun. No, honestly. Just wait til your muscles are fully repaired and you start training again. Whoo boy, it is friggin' a-_mazing_." Zack grinned. He remembered when he had picked up training again with Angeal after his induction into SOLDIER. He had only to trust his body, and the things he could do were absolutely unreal.

That led him to think of his first promotion. When Angeal told him he'd been accepted as a Second Class after a couple months, he had spent days bouncing off the walls. Well, more than usual, at least. He and Kunsel had gone out to Seventh Heaven to celebrate, and again when Kunsel caught up a couple months later.

Then the time he had been in Lazard's office when Angeal had casually announced that he had nominated Zack for First Class. Zack snickered at the memory of gasping and grabbing at his hair, unable to believe his mentor, and then jumping on Angeal screaming that he loved him. That was a sufficiently awkward moment for all present. Although he was pretty sure Lazard had been hiding a laugh the whole time. Then Angeal had shoved him off, telling him to stop embarrassing him, and Zack had to get all stiff and formal all over again. It was hard to believe that that had been just over a month ago. It seemed like just yesterday, but when he thought about what had happened since then, it seemed like forever.

He had changed so much. New people had come into his life, and as he did with everyone, he had welcomed them with arms wide open. He was glad he did, 'cause he really did have some awesome new friends. Cloud, Shane, Max, and Devon were people he could have crazy times with and never worry about what the rest of the world thought of them. And of course, he trusted them all to an extent that he wasn't quite sure he could measure by comparison. They were..._like _him.

Zack snorted to himself. What were these overly emotional thoughts? He was going soft, as Angeal would say. It wasn't like he was insensitive or perpetually dispassionate. Quite the opposite, actually. But a few months ago, he never would have been having deep thoughts like this. So...what had happened to make him change?

**-Wednesday night, 26 June-**

Max's brown head emerged explosively from a pile of packaged products. "You've got _ramen _in here?"

"Uh, I stopped by Wall Market the other day and got some stuff, so, yeah…?" Diana turned to him from her position on the couch.

Cloud cocked his head. "And the first thing you grab is ramen?"

"I was having a ramen craving!" she said defensively under her breath.

"Oh. A _craving_, huh?" he murmured, shooting her a sly look.

"Er, yeah…? Oh, gross, man! Shut up…" she groaned, smacking her forehead and collapsing over sideways, not really caring that she fell neatly off the couch to land on the rug. Her new-and-improved bone structure, she had found, was a lot more durable. _Implying these things. Especially in front of the other two... Idiot. Remind me not to tell him about Zack and everything from the other morning_, she thought hotly. _Tifa had had-was _still_ having-enough of a field day with that one._

"Ooh, I'm gonna _make _it!" Max was crowing in triumph. "Uh… How?"

Shane tsked at his other half. "Instructions are on the package, dumbass."

"Ohh. Right, right. Okay. Pot. Help me find a pot! Water. Boil water. Hey, how do you light the stove?"

"Hey, hey, hang on, wait!" Diana leapt up from the floor and was at his side in an instant, turning the knob on the gas stove the opposite way. "You'll gas us all, genius."

"Oh. Is that bad?"

"Yes," she said patiently. "That means that all that's escaping out of there is gas, and if we don't die first from inhaling too much of it, if someone lights a match, the entire complex goes up in flames. So yes, that's bad."

"…Oh. Okay! So I just dump this in?" he was quick to recover, as expected.

"Sure, go ahead. When this beeps," she set the stove timer for four minutes, "turn the dial to the right and push it in to turn it off. Got it? Good."

"I need some food, like, now, not in four minutes." Shane poked around one of the shelves nailed up next to a line of cupboards.

The new Third Classes had had to move into new dorms, and the four friends had opted for the same setup as they had had before. The rooms were pretty similar to their previous ones, but somewhat larger and more comfortable. They also had what was, in Diana's opinion, a pretty kick-butt kitchen, for a dorm meant to be occupied by college-age guys.

"Canned beans…hm." Shane squinted at the label, then shrugged and plopped the can on the counter. "Dibs on the stove next."

Diana was about to open her mouth to mention that for one thing, that would take even longer than the ramen when he had just announced that he wanted food right then. She was also going to mention that there were in fact four burners, but immediately thought better of having those two in such close proximity to 1. each other, 2. fire, and 3. each other's food.

Cloud hopped up on the counter, pushing open a cupboard behind him as an afterthought. "Dude. Plates? Hey, chips! Aw, crap. They're that nasty organic shit."

"Dang. And I thought we were gonna hafta suffer for the entire week." Diana lazily produced a handful of Doritos from a grocery bag. It took a second for Max to catch on.

"Oh! Dude! Oh, you are so a lifesaver. Ommm." He shoved three in his mouth whole. Diana made a face. She was pretty sure those mako treatments had amped up all their already-ridiculous appetites.

"Hey, look who's got the new schmancy dorms now!"

It was Zack, and he came blowing in the door with the energy on full blast. Then again, when wasn't it on full blast?

"Hey Zack. Want some?" Diana held out the bag of chips.

"Dude. _Yes_." He snatched a handful and munched happily.

"Whazzis?" Shane had been poking around in the freezer while Max frantically went back to stirring the ramen. He had produced a frozen fish. A _whole _frozen fish.

Diana wrinkled her nose as Shane read off the packaging he had oh-so-intelligently removed prior to asking what it was. "Good question. What _is _that?"

"…Escalator?" her dark-haired friend cocked his head to the side.

"Lemme see." Diana rolled her eyes. She squinted at the writing, then drew back, making a face. "Escolar? What are they trying to do, poison us?" she muttered. (A/N: Escolar is a kind of white fish that _does not _agree with people's systems. At all. It'll make you sick because of a sort of natural food poisoning that's in it. Trust me, I had it at a family friend's house and everyone else was feeling rather gross. Not me. 'Cause I'm just freaky like that :P But I had to listen to six other people complaining. So don't order it in a restaurant or anything like that. Just sayin'.)

"Probably a prank by the not-so-fresh Thirds," Zack voiced around several Doritos.

"Yeesh. If so, someone really knows their fish," she blanched, absently handing the abomination to a questioning Zack. _Sure, just give it to the Puppy_, she thought, laughing quietly. _Now there's a fair solution to any situation._

"Whoa! Max, watch the—" Shane was back by the shelves again, and flailed an arm as he pointed across the kitchen at Max. Said arm hit a shelf and tipped it so that a jar (Diana later said 'thank Gaia for plastic') slid off the end, the top coming off and the powdery white contents dumping all over Cloud.

Poor Cloud's eyes were widening fast as a wooden spoon came hurtling right for him, and he ducked, slipping sideways, banging his head on the still-open cupboard door and barely managing to keep his rear on the countertop.

Max had flung the spoon backward by accident when he turned to his pot as Shane had yelled for him to watch it. The ramen was boiling over ridiculously, covering the controls so that Max couldn't even see the dial to turn it off, and he panicked, managing to slam his knee into the oven door beneath the stove and fall halfway to the ground as his leg gave out, effectively launching the spoon as his limbs flailed wildly.

Diana was trying to run from Shane over to Max to help, and it would have been perfectly fine had Zack not been standing in her way holding the damned fish by the hook. She skidded around him, barely avoiding being hit by one of Cloud's legs that was knocking the contents of the nearest convenient jar onto Shane. Then she slipped on the slick, recently cleaned floor, which was now half covered in bubbles and water that had previously been residing in the ramen pot, and her feet were flying out from under her. Her arms windmilled wildly and she yelled, grabbing onto the nearest available thing for support.

Unfortunately, the thing she grabbed onto was the left leg of Zack's jeans.

Shane was standing there, covered in some unidentifiable red powder that was making him sneeze bloody murder.

Cloud was close to falling off the counter, covered in flour and something sticky stuck in his blonde spikes.

Max was collapsed in a puddle of water against the oven door, swearing and temporarily halted in his mission to turn the stove off.

Diana was on the ground next to him, groaning, her tailbone and general rear end throbbing for the moment and the wind half knocked out of her.

And Zack put down the fish on the table, turned around calmly, and looked at them all. "What's all this?" he frowned in mock confusion. He looked down suddenly. "Oh. There we are, then." He was standing there in his boxers. "Hm."

Diana was just about ready to crawl into the oven and hide, or better, run out the door screaming. But she was Devon. So she wasn't about to do either of those.

Zack took a real look around the small area, his friends all in various states of disarray and distress, and he burst out roaring with husky laughter. He collapsed onto the floor, his pants still down around his ankles, but did he care? No. Why? Because he was Zack.

Diana spent a few seconds remembering how much she loved his laugh, and then rolled her eyes at him. Looking around, it really was a pretty funny scene. She reached over Max and turned off the accursed stove.

"Hmph. I'll be back!" Diana huffed mockingly and marched out of the kitchen overdramatically, leaving her friends laughing behind her.

Making for the bathroom, she nearly collapsed into giggles. That was actually pretty funny. She pitied Cloud's hair, but the curry powder all over Shane was a close second. Shaking her head hard, she (somewhat ineffectively) whacked herself on the stomach to attempt to ensure that her lungs were in full working order again. Just to make sure, she adjusted the bandages around her torso. Everything was perfectly fine and in its place, so she reached under the counter to take out yet another one of her secret little bags of supplies.

Since the mako treatments, she had been using some makeup in ways that it was definitely not intended for. She used a dark powder along her jaw line to make it look more masculine, and darkened her eyebrows slightly. It was really inconvenient trying to pose as the opposite gender after being given a treatment that pretty much enhanced physical beauty as a side effect.

Her face was a bit more angular, and for her, that meant it was more feminine looking. Her eyes were slightly larger and slanted up at the outside corners, giving her a slightly exotic kind of look. Not to mention that her eyes, oh yeah, _glowed_. So now not only did she have to worry about color changes; it was blatantly obvious when it did happen. If anyone knew the connection between the color and her current temperament, things could get real embarrassing, real fast. Tifa came to mind instantly.

Diana snorted. _Yeah, wonderful. Let's make Di's life more complicated. Oh, well. At least I kinda like the look. That is, when I'm supposed to be an actual _female_. Yeah, minor details._

She walked into the kitchen again fiddling with the loose end of a bandage so it looked obvious what she had been doing.

"Oh, it returns." Cloud spread his arms in mock greeting.

"Yeah, yeah, great. How's the hair, oh high and mighty one?" She indicated the minor disaster zone atop his head. "I would ask the same of the great fisherman, except the only problem seems to be his pants."

"Quite well, actually. It thanks you for asking," Zack cut in, flipping his hair theatrically. "As do the pants."

"They've just been too busy lately. Refusing to stay on." Cloud stage-whispered to Diana, having the time of his life harassing her. To the other guys, it sounded liek a sarcastic remark meant to insult Zack. To Diana, it sounded like...well...extremely dirty.

"Because clearly your pants have been getting more interesting things going on in them than Porcupine's over there have," Diana stated matter-of-factly, repressing the combined urges to snort with laughter and strangle her blonde friend.

"Alright, enough with swinging your dicks already—"

"I'm swinging my _what_?" Diana whirled to regard Shane, a rather odd expression on her face.

"Dickswinging? Never heard that?" Max looked at her, arms crossed.

"Er—should I have? Small-town kid, here, remember."

"I dunno. But still. C'mere and make yourselves useful," Shane complained, throwing the damned fish back into the freezer.

"Dickswinging? What the hell?" Diana muttered to Cloud as quietly as she could, wiping off the counter.

"Apparently it's the common term for the guy thing where everyone's trying to one-up everybody else," he replied in the same fashion.

"Oh. Oh, yeah, that makes a lot more sense now." _How am I gonna survive this. Another month or so and I think my brains will have blown out._

**A/N: So YAY for random crack kitchen incidents and superpowers! :D Hope you enjoyed this one, thanks for reading and review please :)**


	24. Our Heroine Has Several ReEncounters

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Tens of thousands of words later...and I still haven't gotten my hands on those ownership papers.**

**A/N: I'm not even sure what to say 'cause I'm so incredibly tired, except that a few pretty significant events go on here. The end is random humor to bring in a character again (find out who!) :) but remember the bigger things that happen, because they _will_ come back in later!**

**Special note-100th review! I never thought this story would be this popular, and I'm even still getting new reviewers! Love you all 3 And it just made me wicked excited to see the reviews in hte triple-digits :) Thank you all soooo much and please continue!**

**So read on and enjoy :)**

**Chapter 24: In Which Our Heroine Has Several Re-Encounters**

**-The next morning: Thursday, 27 June-**

"Hey. Hey, Di, wake up just for a sec. Hello? Maybe she's dead. Whaddaya think the chances are?" Cloud gingerly poked at a sleeping Diana. He didn't realize his danger until it was much too late.

"Mmmmmff… Wffffss…"

Cloud wrinkled his nose and turned to Tifa for a translation. The latter shrugged helplessly. "What was that? Come on, just wake up. I gotta tell you something. You can go back to sleep after…"

"…Mrrrrrrrgh?"

"Yes, really. Hello? Hello?" he jabbed at her side with a little more force than he had intended.

"WwrrrrggAAAAGH!" She spasmed violently, nailing the blonde in the ribs with her shin.

"Holy Gaia, woman, do you do this to everyone?" he backed off fast, holding his side, while Tifa tried and failed to stifle her giggles.

"WAFFLES!"

"Uh, no, actually—"

"Whuh. Whozat? Whoa…" she muttered groggily, prying her eyelids open. "Whaddaya want?" she fixed Cloud with a look that was somewhere between sleepy and drugged out.

"We have the day off for recovery purposes," he explained in a patient voice, like he was talking to a child. "I'll be out with Tifa. Max and Shane are gone. Do whatever you want. 'Kay? Feel free to sleep. I'll see you later. So bye."

"…Bye." She rubbed her eyes. "Bye, Teef…" she murmured as an afterthought.

"See ya, Di."

A door closed and silence reigned supreme again. Groaning, she levered herself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Now that had been a weird dream. Nothing disturbing, for sure, but just plain odd. Well, okay, if you counted Max and her best friend from home using giant waffles as Frisbees and then later sketchily wandering off together; plus Cloud in a dress and pigtails who was claiming to have been forced into it by his mother who was in fact a chocobo; plus that random sometimes-invisible snowdrift in the middle of the Frisbee field that people kept mysteriously tripping over…so, yeah, maybe it could be classified as slightly disturbing. Not to mention…hadn't someone been running around with no— Oh. Okay, ramp that one up on the disturbing scale. Zack had been streaking.

Diana shuddered and splashed her face with water, partially to rid her mind of the image and partially in an attempt to rid her face of the bright red shade it had suddenly taken a liking to. That wasn't awkward at all, nope… Ugh! At least she couldn't remember it too well. Yeah, she liked the guy, but not enough for all _that_! Gross…

What was she going to do with all this free time? She could do anything she wanted, really… After waking up on that lovely note…

Hang on. Note.

The note she had left her parents.

She couldn't remember it word for word, but she did remember explicitly telling her parents to not come looking for her. And then what? She hadn't contacted them…at all.

What was today? She hunted through a bag for her PHS and turned it on.

_Thursday, 27 June. 09:28._

Wow. When had she come? She thought back in her partially photographic memory for something, anything, to see when she had left home.

May. The calendar on the wall in her kitchen, next to the table where she had left the note. It had been a Saturday, because she had had an excuse to be doing nothing that night. Oh. She randomly remembered one of her aunts talking to her mother about a dinner party the following Monday…the 20th. So…the eighteenth? _Saturday, 18 May,_ her mind automatically regurgitated back at her.

It had been almost six weeks.

Twenty minutes later, she was dressed as a boy and was curled up in a convenient quiet window seat in the otherwise bustling Shinra lobby with a pen, a sheet of paper, and an envelope. She only had one shot at this, and she had to make it right.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_I'm sorry I haven't contacted you before now. I'm safe—very safe, actually. I won't tell you what town I'm staying in, just because I'm afraid of you, Dad, losing yourself in foreign territory. (We all know how that goes.) The fact is that I feel at home where I am. I have friends—don't worry, Mom, I haven't turned into a homeless person, or anything—and they're all great. I wish Dev could be here to see what I've seen; meet the people I've met; do the things I've done. Share the experiences. I've been thinking about him more than usual, actually. But it's okay for me to do that. I've grown used to thinking about him, and I'm going to be okay. I'm having a great time, and honestly, I think I'm definitely growing from these experiences here. A lot, actually._

_I know people at home must have been so worried when I left. I'm so, so sorry that I just went and left that night, without a chance to say goodbye or anything. But I think we all know that I wouldn't have been able to go otherwise. Nor would I have been permitted to go. You know me—a clean break is always my answer. I needed to leave, both for reasons that I think you can guess at, and others that I know you can't. In the end, it was the right choice. And I will be back. It's unclear at this point when exactly (all I'm going to say is that the situation is a bit complicated) but I promise that I'll be coming home and see you again._

_There are some things that I want to tell you and discuss with you in person. I won't trust a letter for some of these things. That's one reason I want to see you, just as soon as I can figure out when._

_On a happier note, Mom, you'll be pleased to know that I'm having a really good time with my place here now. Not that I wasn't happy before, of course, but I hope that you can understand part of my need to get away. I'm taking a vacation of sorts, if you want to call it that. I have this great friend here—now, I know you won't really approve of either of these specifications, Dad—who is a martial artist and owns a bar. She's my age and reminds me a little of a few of my friends in Kalm, only taken up a few levels! She's teaching me to cook. (Finally! Happy about us being friends yet?) She's also dating another one of my friends here. He's really awesome, along with these two other guys who share an apartment with him. _(Diana was dangerously close to writing that they 'share a dorm with us'. That could have been disastrous if it was ever read through the crossing-out.)_ I make breakfast for them once in a while. Now, don't be getting weird ideas about me having a bunch of guy friends here! You know I used to hang out with Devon's friends all the time. And there's another one, another guy, _(she also had to cross out several attempted phrases here) _and he's kind of my boyfriend. There, I said it. Keep your hair on, there—I'm being a responsible child. Really, he's pretty awesome. I shouldn't mention names or descriptions in a letter—sorry, but I did say the situation is complicated, and besides this is a letter—and I can't give too many specifics, but I think you'll like him. I assume you'll want to meet the guy ASAP…_

_So let me know if and when I can visit, and I hope you can forgive me._

_Your loving daughter,_

_Diana_

She sighed and rubbed her temples, reading the letter over again. _Ah, dang it all, just get it to the front desk. No turning back now._

"Hi, can I mail a letter—" The secretary at the desk gave her a mildly ticked off glare while gesturing to the phone hidden in her other hand. Diana raised her hands in mock surrender. "Jeez, all right, all right!" She snatched a roll of stamps after several impatient seconds, not exactly willing to wait. Holding up a finger to indicate she only wanted one, she raised her eyebrows at the secretary.

The woman rolled her eyes overdramatically and turned away to quickly mutter to the person on the other end to "hang on a sec, there's a dude here that won't hold up a damn minute." Yeesh, it wasn't like it was even a client. A friend, judging by the all too obvious sound of the gossip mill running.

"Just one?" the secretary said haughtily to the SOLDIER that was apparently out of uniform for the moment. The eyes gave him away.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Three gil." The secretary leaned on the counter impatiently.

What an inconvenient number. Diana hunted in her many pockets for single coins, coming up with a ten at one point but remembering that she had to save that for Cloud. He needed more for the parking meters for when he used his bike. There's a one…and another one. Ooh, the spare collection she tried to keep up! She had forgotten about that: how useful. She fumbled with the pocket low on her right thigh, hearing a satisfying _clink_.

The secretary wouldn't stop freaking tapping her nails. She sighed loudly. Now, was that honestly necessary? Come on.

"Keep your pants on, I don't think your friend's going to absolutely die if she doesn't hear what those two were doing after the bar last night within the next eight seconds." Diana wrinkled her nose, using what she had gotten of the conversation with her enhanced hearing.

The secretary looked fairly stunned for a second, then Diana got the coin out and plonked the three on the counter. "There ya go." She tore off the stamp—was it really worth three gil? rip-off—and stuck it on the envelope, sealing it deftly and reaching behind the counter to stick it in the appropriate slot herself. "Thank you for your time and have a lovely day." The secretary was still standing there with an odd expression on her face, and Diana walked away chuckling to herself. She loved getting that look. It made her laugh.

Another twenty minutes, and she was back up in the dorm, changed, and back out into the city above-plate. Hey, look, a weapons shop that advertised to be carrying materia. This could be kind of entertaining…

She flung open the shop door and meant to just waltz right in, except someone was in her way. Oh, damn, that was a big person. Maybe she ran into some_thing_? Hang on. She recognized these thoughts… Looking up quickly, she recognized her mountain of a—rival? No. Harasser? Not quite right. Enemy? Nah. Not-a-buddy. Yeah, that was it! She hadn't actually encountered the idiot since she kind of yelled in his face that one day during training, right after Wutai; only in passing.

"Sorry. My fault," she apologized, trying to sound amiable at the least and move around him. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to want to move, somewhat of a 'huh?' expression on his face.

"…You?" Dang, that voice was still as annoying as ever.

"Yes, me. I would like to get into the shop. So, if you please." She looked up at him again.

"Wha…why are you a _girl_?" he blurted, obviously recognizing her. Oh, boy.

"Because that's what you call it when a human has two X chromosomes?" she cocked an eyebrow in mild distaste. "…Oh, I see. You know, it isn't all that uncommon for family members to look alike. Especially if, you know, they're born on the same day, to the same parents. For example. So 'scuse me please." She all but shoved past him, which was easier now with her enhanced strength, to leave him somewhat baffled. She stalked down a wide aisle that no one was in at the moment, ignoring a couple stares she got. She stopped walking and blew out a heavy breath, screwing her face up and rubbing her temples before opening her eyes again. Okay. Now—

"Problems?" came a smooth voice from behind her.

Diana whirled. "Oh. You again?" She rolled her eyes, but the gesture wasn't as antagonizing as it might seem.

"Be harsh if you wish, but you _did _recognize me immediately."

"Are you kidding? I'd recognize that overkill of red leather anywhere." Diana waved a hand at the man facing her.

Genesis clapped a hand to his chest in mock offense. "You wound me."

"Right. I only wish." She reached forward to punch him on the shoulder. "No fangirls ready to attack here?" she looked around behind him in suspicion.

"No, fortunately for the both of us. They were buzzing for days about the 'mystery girl.'" He made air quotes, raising his eyebrows.

She outright laughed at this. "Oh, fame. Fantastic. Look at us, now. Having a sane conversation! A _sober _one." She fixed him with a look.

"In my defense, I do remember that night. Almost. Almost all of it. Mostly." He jabbed a finger at her.

She crossed her arms, looking up at him in mock skepticism. "Uh-huh? Well, I personally thought you weren't doing too well, considering you were quoting _Loveless _in some very creatively backwards ways—"

"—Not to mention hitting on the bartender."

Diana smacked her forehead. She had dismissed the approaching figure as just another customer. She was wrong. "Way to make it awkward, Commander Hewley. Way to make it awkward."

"Call me Angeal, Miss Loveless. Please. I feel old and I'm not even thirty yet."

She made a face and gave an unladylike snort. "If you'll call me Diana. So where's our Silver General? About to drop out of the sky for a surprise attack? He does love the occasional dramatic entrance."

"Not today, unfortunately. Angeal, what exactly was that about a bartender?" Genesis turned to his friend, who looked mildly uncomfortable until Diana spoke up in her blunt way.

"You were too far gone to be making any judgments, hence the fact that you started claiming that you "wouldn't hesitate to follow _me _wherever I might wish to go"," she made air quotes, all of a sudden remembering his exact hilarious words.

"Was that before or after Sephiroth claimed that "Genny just needs to get laid"?" Angeal rubbed his chin thoughtfully, joining in on the fun.

"I do believe that it was after."

"You sure? I thought Zack showed up right after Genesis pulled his stuff."

"Ah, true fact. But then right before that, what happened? Oh, that's right—good old Sephy fell off his barstool." She chuckled at the memory.

"—Claiming all the way that getting laid is the best therapy there is—" Angeal chortled.

"I'll have you two know that I most certainly had a perfectly good excuse to be a bit…off balance…that night—!"

"Oh, yeah?" Diana gasped around her giggles. "Get turned down every place you visited before that, just took the booze and ran?"

Angeal guffawed loudly. "It's funny 'cause it's _true_!" The big SOLDIER actually fell part of the way over, collapsing against a shelf.

Genesis turned his nose up and made to stomp off theatrically, except that a cackling Diana stuck a well-aimed foot in his way and he came tumbling down with her as she doubled over laughing. It was a brilliantly classic moment, except that unfortunately for all present, Genesis nearly landed smack on top of Diana. She rolled out of the way, still laughing, but somehow they ended up in a tangled mess on the floor with only mere inches between glowing azure and shining gray.

Her breath stopped momentarily at the proximity, and though he would never admit it, his did as well.

All of a sudden, Diana stood with her usual fluid motions and reached out a hand to Genesis. He took it without quite meeting her eyes again, though they bored into his, daring him to return the look. She took a moment to bow exaggeratedly to the two.

"Gentlemen, I bid you good day. I have shopping to do, and I hereby leave you to your respective devices." She grinned and waved, then trotted over a few aisles. She did have a purpose here, after all. It wasn't just purely to avoid the impending extreme conversational awkwardness.

_What was that little incident, anyway? Genesis was acting so weird… It didn't _need _to be awkward. He could have just blown it off. I would've…and I would think that he would too, given the chance_, she pondered as she perused the shelves for a fairly inexpensive bullet refill package she knew they sold somewhere around here. _Shinra brand… Well, what isn't, these days?_

"Can I help you with anything specific, Miss?" An employee snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Ah, no, I don't think so," she began out of reflex. "Well, actually, yes. I'm just looking for some refill bullets."

"Okay, do you know the type of gun?" he asked patiently.

"Semi-automatic single-shot pistol, last year's Shinra model. Forty-five caliber if I remember correctly," she fired off absently, casting a look to the door, where her First Class friends were exiting (to much staring from the general public.)

He blinked. "…Okay, so you do kinda know what you're saying," he blurted. "I mean—I didn't—"

Diana patted him on the shoulder. "No problem. I just need my stuff and I'll be out of your way." She smiled at him.

"O-oh. Right. Yeah, this way." He led her farther down the aisle and she spotted the familiar packaging.

"Ah! Perfect. Another minute and I'd've had it. Thanks!" she waved at the kid. He nodded and backed off, and she remembered that her supply of throwing stars was severely down after the mass break-in by the Wutaian army four days earlier. And she should probably pick up some more of her bandaging, just to be safe…

She avoided the explosives department only with much self-control. Checking out, the clerk gave her a bit of an odd look, but she was more than used to it. Satisfied with her purchases, she took out her PHS as she went back out onto the street. _One missed call,_ it proclaimed.

"…Tifa? You called. …Oh yeah? Well, what are you doing? …Just shopping for some stuff. I was actually about to come back… He did? Of course. …Yeah, sure, why not? See you in, like, fifteen." She snapped it shut and grinned in mischief. Cloud had had to run off to help with something SOLDIER-related, so Tifa was unoccupied for the remainder of the day. The evil gears in both the girls' heads were already working as to what they could do with their free time…

**-Twenty minutes later-**

"But how do we do that? I feel like sitting there would just be weird."

"True, and I could hardly avoid the 'have you seen your brother today' questions."

"What about employing some materia to help us out here?"

"Nah, that's practically cheating…"

"I guess. Hey… Is there an air vent in the training room?"

"Duh, Teef, there's gotta be— Ohh. Oh, this is gonna be so good. But how do we get in there?"

"Hang on, are we legitimately doing this?"

"Of course we are! It's an adventure! And I know just who to ask…"

"Goddess, Di, you're turning into Zack."

"I'm not quite sure how to respond to that, but okay!"

Yuffie Kisaragi had been easy to track down. All the two had to do was ask around for a certain mopey Turk, and ta-dah! There was his little babysitting project tagging right along.

It turned out that Diana was right about two things: one, the pint-sized ninja was more than willing to join them. And two, she was fully capable of hacking into the Shinra computer database and pulling up the blueprints for the building that housed the training and practice areas and gym.

"Again, I ask: are we legitimately doing this?" Tifa whispered.

Yuffie shushed her. "Which one's which?" she inquired in her perky voice.

"Um…hang on…" Diana peered through the screen in front of the air vent. "Scoot over for a sec."

Yes, air vent. The three were hiding in a hollow tunnel that ran through the wall close to the ceiling of one of the practice rooms. Blueprints were wonderful things when trying to navigate around _inside _the walls.

"That's Cloud with the hair that looks like a chocobo," Diana offered. "And Zack is the one next to him with the black hair. Brown hair, far left is Kunsel; the two over to the side are Max and Shane. Shane's taller. Not sure who those three are over there…"

"Why are all SOLDIER guys so _attractive_?" Yuffie groaned. "Well, Vincent is, too, for a weirdo Turk. I mean, once you get past the cloak and creepy eyes. I keep telling him he needs to take a pill, pull the stick out of his ass, and lighten up, do you know I don't think I've ever once seen the guy really smile—?"

Tifa smiled slyly. "Oh yeah? Vincent? I guess so, I really don't see him much… He's all in charge of you, though, or whatever, so I'd trust your opinion on that one."

"Well, trust me, he _is_." Yuffie gave a sly little far-off smile and suddenly let out a quiet squeal of frustration. "Oh my Goddess, don't these guys ever take off their outer uniforms?" Evidently she was just as ADHD as Tifa had predicted, and the slight pink tinge that Diana swore had taken over the ninja's face faded rapidly.

"Oh, yeah, they do," Diana commented dryly. "Trust me. Just wait it out…" She and Tifa had opted to not tell Yuffie about Diana's situation, mostly because odds were no secret was safe with the young ninja.

"Whoo, boy, there goes the first one!" Tifa exclaimed. She sighed. "Not to mention nice faces—those are some kick-ass bodies, right there. What!" she took a look at Diana's face. "Just 'cause we're dating a couple of them—"

"_What_?" Yuffie shrieked gleefully. Loudly.

"Ah, shit!" Diana yanked the two to the side as the group of young men looked around in confusion. Thank Gaia the room didn't have great acoustics.

"I believe we've been compromised," Tifa whispered.

"Agreed," Yuffie giggled back.

"Let's roll." Diana turned in an about-face to crawl hastily back down the tunnel.

"What's this about dating—!"

"I swear there are voices coming from the ceiling!" Zack protested loudly to his mentor.

Angeal rubbed his forehead wearily. "Zack, there's no way on Gaia that's possible—"

"Oh, yeah? Well, you just let me know the next time voices start stalking _you_—!"

"AGH! Oww! We're not supposed to be—"

"Shit, that was _me_!"

"Move, both of you—whoops!"

_Crash_.

Angeal looked up from his desk quickly. What the hell was that? …But there was no one out in the hall…

"You dumb shit—"

"Shut up! Someone'll hear us! Now which…"

His eyebrows shot up and his hand shot out to his PHS. "—Zack?"

**A/N: Haha, random boredom insanity there at the end...but so I was kinda disappointed that I can't keep the schmancy text formatting when I upload the documents. In the original letter from Diana to her parents, there are a few phrases/words that are crossed out and it adds to the effect...but it's okay :) Thanks for reading and keeping reviewing, my angels!**


	25. Even Heroes Cry

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: **

**run4life: *pelts into kitchen waving a stack of papers while wearing extremely slippery socks***

**"I GOT THEM! GUYS, I GOT THEM! I-_ACHOO_!" **

***feet go out from under her and she slams onto the ground***

**UltimateFreedom: *GAAAAAAASP***

**run4life: *yells at guy in a suit chasing her who grabs the papers back and runs***

**"Dammit, those were the deeds to FFVII..."**

**A/N: Just sayin', this did actually happen...minus the dude in a suit. And the papers are actually a hairdryer. But still. Don't ask. All I can say is that I _do_ own this chapter/entire story, duh, and I'm rather proud of this one, so enjoy it :) Brief hysterics-just some random stuff I threw in because a couple of reviews mentioned the idea of the three getting caught, even though it doesn't exactly follow the mood of the chapter-, then later some mushy stuff, angst problems, some important answers/clarification...yeah. And listen to Dear Agony by Breaking Benjamin during the inset middle-ish end-ish part. You'll understand...**

**Chapter 25: Even Heroes Cry**

**-A few minutes later-**

"I _knew _I wasn't just going insane!" Zack pointed dramatically at Cloud, who sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, very good. Now that we've ruled that one out…"

"Are we not supposed to be searching for the intruders?" a deep, slightly rough voice spoke up.

"Ah, right, right…_alleged _intruders, though, don't forget, Vincent!" Zack spun away from his two companions and now pointed down the hallway with his sword. "Onward!"

"Maybe if we put a leash on him he could track the scent…" Cloud murmured, mostly to himself. He thought he might have detected a slight lifting of one side of the Turk's face, but it was hard to tell.

"So if we heard it in the training room and Angeal heard it from his office… Hey! What wazzat?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing," came the wide-eyed, naïve reply.

"Yeah, don't go all 'innocent chocobo' on me," Zack grumbled, stalking down the hall.

"As long as you don't stab me to death with one of those porcupine quills of yours—"

"Hold on. Stop a moment."

"Thank you, Vincent, see, someone understands, that _was _below the belt with the—"

"Fair, kindly keep quiet; I was referring to the noise."

"What—ohhh."

An irregular clunking noise was traveling through what did indeed seem to be the ceiling. It was getting rather close to the three. It almost sounded like a few people trying to make their way along an echoing tunnel, and talking to each other…

In fact, that was exactly what it sounded like. Vincent's eyes—a golden-amber color that reflected light back in an odd manner—slid to a grate that covered the air vent high up on the wall that slanted diagonally there, ahead of them. He looked at Zack and Cloud and motioned with his head for them to look. The grate covering was no longer there…as if someone had moved it away.

The voices were coming closer, and seemed to be feminine. They echoed endlessly off the inside of the vent, now undoubtedly where all the commotion was coming from, and were unrecognizable because they were warped so much.

"Is it still open?" Tifa hissed to Yuffie.

"Heck, I dunno, I wasn't the last one in!"

"Yeah, we left it…open…" Diana realized slowly. "Oh, crap, I hope nobody noticed—"

"Considering I don't see the barrels of rifles staring us in the face, I think we're pretty much good," Tifa concluded.

"True. Okay, ninja girl, you…" Diana began, trying to make room for her small friend to go ahead of her and ending up in an awkward position braced against the three-foot-high ceiling.

"I'm not going first! What if—"

"I thought you were the great ninja princess of Wutai?" Tifa made a joking face at Yuffie.

"Well, yeahhh, but—"

"Would someone hurry up already, my arm is getting tired heeeeere—!"

The three men had pressed themselves against the wall beneath the opening, so as not to be immediately seen by what sounded like three females attempting to exit through said opening. They had planned to analyze the situation and then move in to question the three on what they might be doing in an air vent tunnel in a Shinra building. They, however, had not planned on a klutzy (mako-infused SOLDIER Third Class who was lethal in battle) nineteen-year-old falling out of her awkward position behind the opening that was slanted forty-five degrees in comparison to both the ceiling and the wall.

So she toppled clumsily out and down headfirst like a bundle down the laundry chute, yelling in surprise. Thank Gaia the ceiling itself was high; otherwise she might not have had time to hit the ground rolling and land in a crouch. That was when she noticed the three figures staring at her. She instinctively grabbed for the hilt of her new sword at her hip. It wasn't there, and she quickly realized that she wouldn't be needing it.

_Fudge_.

"Uhh…" she started intelligently, but was interrupted by Tifa dropping gracefully from the opening and Yuffie following behind, proclaiming "_Wheeee_…!…ee?"

"Well _hi _there, guys, what's crackin'?" Tifa grinned broadly, looking around expectantly. It didn't work. Cloud was giving her the 'what-the-hell-just-happened' look.

Diana straightened up and sheepishly found Zack's eyes. He was giving her the 'what-the-hell-did-you-get-yourself-into-this-time' look and realizing that he hadn't seen her since the attack on Sunday.

Yuffie had locked eyes with Vincent and the two were currently locked in a rather intense staring match. Vincent's glare said 'what-the-hell-am-I-ever-supposed-to-do-with-you?'

"…What have you three been up to?" Zack finally asked after possibly the most awkward silence of Diana's life.

Di bit her lip. How was she supposed to explain this…? She could come up with no good excuse, so instead she just stepped up to him and hugged him around the middle. He blinked and hesitantly hugged her back, wondering vaguely what was going on.

"Sorry," she mumbled innocently into his shoulder. "We got bored and went exploring. Then we spied on you. And might have possibly caused some people to think they were going insane…"

"But we're back now!" Tifa continued cheerfully. "And no harm done, right?" She gave her boyfriend a charming smile. Cloud rolled his eyes and grinned back grudgingly, muttering something like "Let's go" and looping his arm around her waist to lead her off to walk down the hall (even if he did still look like he had absolutely no clue what he was doing touching a girl.)

"Exactly!" Diana turned her face up to Zack's.

He shook his head slowly. "One of these days…" he snorted.

Yuffie held out her arms hopefully to Vincent, grinning widely. He blinked once at her slowly, then quickly snatched her up to throw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, causing the other four to go into laughing fits. "Hey! _Hey!_ Put me down, you cheater!"

Diana started to say something, but realized that the damn air vent was still open. "Ah, hang on a sec." She turned to regard the opening, judging the distance.

"No, let me do it," Zack offered, stepping towards her.

"Nah, I got this, just a second…" She took a few steps back and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet a couple of times before taking two quick strides toward the wall—and kept running, climbing _up _the wall. She pushed off and grabbed the edge of the hole, swinging back and forth as she groped for the grate lying on the floor of the tunnel. _Aha_. She let go quickly and just held onto the grate, pulling it into place while avoiding crushing her fingers, and dropping back to the floor with a quiet _whump_.

"…What am I going to do with you…?" Zack despaired, shaking his head again in slight bewilderment.

Yuffie was still yelling at Vincent. "Fight me like a man! Or are you afraid to face the wrath of the Great Ninja Yuffie—?"

"I feel like if she had her shuriken on her, Vincent would be a pincushion before too long," Diana mused. "Then again, if I'd had anything with me, you might have had a narrow escape when I saw the three of you standing there…"

Zack laughed, walking down the hall with her and surprising her by taking her hand. She blushed faintly. "Yeah, but unlike Vince, _I_ would've 'fought you like a man'," he air quoted with the other hand.

"Oh, yeah?" Diana teased him. "Bring it on!" She watched him sharply out of the corner of her eye to see if he would take her seriously. The chances were good.

His gaze flicked to their intertwined hands, and before she could connect the dots, he had taken a hold of her forearm and tried to throw her backward over his hip. However, she let him do so, and carefully measured and used the momentum to help herself grab onto Zack and fling him over backwards as well. They both slammed into the ground and promptly engaged in a wrestling match, rolling haphazardly down the hallway.

Eventually they were both just reduced to laughing. They stopped moving, and Diana expected to land on the floor next to Zack. However, she ended up on top of him, and that made it _much _more difficult to catch her breath. He, of course, wasn't fazed in the least, and only grinned mischievously before rolling over and standing, pulling her with him.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending) for Diana, Zack was a born strategist and she found herself trapped between Zack, his arms, and the wall. He leaned forward, slowly, so that their faces were only an inch apart. She continued to meet his gaze squarely, daring him to do what she knew he was going to. It wasn't like she was complaining—it was just fun to confuse him by standing up to him once in a while.

Zack stared back at the bright, unwavering green-blue eyes patiently. After a good ten seconds—an eternity and a half—he lost his fortitude. "Damn you," he muttered, and closed the distance between them. Diana barely heard Tifa's giggles as she reached up and wrapped her arms around Zack's neck, running a hand through the surprisingly soft onyx spikes. He pulled her ever closer, his strong arms around her waist, like he wasn't going to ever let go…

Until.

"Hey, Zack— Uh."

The two snapped their heads around simultaneously, still in each other's arms.

Diana sighed. "You really do have a knack for making things awkward, Angeal. Really."

**-Four days later: Monday, 1 July-**

"Yo, mail came for you." Shane tossed an envelope at Diana, who was sprawled on her bed. Confusion crossed her features for a moment before she realized what it must have meant.

She silently thanked Gaia that her friends didn't swamp her to read the letter to them like a bunch of girls would have. That could get interesting fast. She recognized her mother's neat script.

_Dearest Diana,_

_Of course you're forgiven. What else can we do for our girl? Glad to hear you're safe, although I'm sure you know that we don't entirely approve of you not telling us what city you're even in. With any luck, you're still on the continent (your father claims he wouldn't put it past you.) I'm so glad you've found people your age to spend time with when you aren't otherwise occupied—it sounds like you have a job of sorts?_

Diana sighed. She kind of had set herself up for that assumption, hadn't she?

_It also sounds like you're enjoying it a lot. Dad and I just want you to be safe and smart, and we're both pleased that you've found living arrangements and such. We were only slightly nervous that you make it sound like you're off having adventures! I bet you are. Thinking of your brother as well? I'm so proud of how well you're doing. The situation hasn't improved much here. People are burying it like a bad dream instead of confronting the problem like they should…but enough said about that._

_I can't entirely blame you for leaving us like you did. You're absolutely right that you never would have gotten away otherwise. Not that we exactly approve of your decision, but I'm trying to understand._

_You can absolutely visit whenever you like—we'll always be here. Bring your friend if you'd like. You know we have lots of extra room. Your father says that, better yet: bring this boyfriend along too! (You know, we have to meet him, I want to know everything! I'm so excited.)_

Diana resisted the urge to do a classic facepalm. Of course, Mom. Of course. This was what she got for being somewhat of a tomboy all these years. They completely overreacted when something entirely normal occurred…

_I just wish we could come and see all your wonderful acquaintances! Well, maybe not because you don't appear to want to be found quite yet. But someday, perhaps. So you say this good friend of yours to whom you owe so much is a bartender and a martial artist? A bit of an odd combination, perhaps, but I hope you can learn something from her about taking care of yourself._

The other three in the room looked at Diana as she began to crack up helplessly. First, the mention of meeting 'all her wonderful acquaintances' brought thoughts of her roommates…followed by her First Class 'acquaintances'. She didn't really want to think about a meeting between Genesis, Angeal, and Mr. and Mrs. Loveless. Then it was hilarious all over again because her mother was worrying about Diana _defending herself_! She had much bigger problems than that, certainly…but her parents weren't going to find _that _out any time in the near future.

_I'm not sure what you mean by things you can't put into a letter, but we can certainly talk when you visit. With that in mind, hopefully we will see you soon. Take care and have fun!_

_Love always,_

_Mom and Dad_

Diana exhaled loudly and flopped back on the covers. "Letter from the parents," she elucidated.

"I thought you ran away?" Shane cocked his head to the side. "They know where you are?"

"Yeah, I did, and no, they don't. I wrote them a few days ago. I mean, they haven't heard from me, at all. They're the type to worry, too." She sighed. She supposed she should respond…

**-Tuesday, 2 July, 2357 hours-**

Diana woke with a start, her eyes snapping to the numbers on the clock. She almost groaned. Not even midnight and a sort-of nightmare already?

She had been quite literally paralyzed as events unfolded before her. She was stuck inside what was like a giant glass box, able to see out but no one able to see her. Occasionally, though…somehow, someone would catch sight of her.

Tifa. Zack. Devon.

_Help me_, they would scream at her. _Come help me_. But she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried, how hard she pushed and pulled, how loudly she tried to yell back that she was trapped.

She shuddered and blinked. She was wide awake now. Suddenly, she was hit with the urge to take a walk. Maybe she just needed to go move around, or something. So she slipped on a loose button-down shirt and cargo pants, not bothering with shoes. Sneaking out the door wasn't too hard with SOLDIER senses and three snoring roommates. Besides, a walk never hurt anybody, right?

Wandering silently and aimlessly through the halls of the building, she stopped suddenly in front of the door to the roof. On a whim, she tried it and somehow found it unlocked, having expected the opposite.

Shrugging, she proceeded up the narrow steps to push open the trapdoor at the top. She was immediately assaulted by a torrent of water in her face.

"Ah, holy—" she cut off the curses as she remembered to keep quiet. Opening the door had released several gallons of water from where it had apparently pooled. And it was still raining quite impressively.

Grinning, she stepped onto the rooftop and closed the trapdoor silently. A boom of thunder made her jump very slightly, and she resisted the urge to laugh. This reminded her of a time she'd had with her brother a few years back.

They had been about sixteen and confined to the house for the night in an inexplicable mood swing from the parental control department. The 'rents were out to dinner, apparently, and Devon had suggested they sneak out anyway. She had heartily agreed, and after a long chain of terrorizing and creeping out the general public, the two had been discovered by their parents dancing on the roof of the single tavern in town. It had been storming that night.

Sighing, Diana walked across the roof, almost slipping several times. It was really great to watch a storm, she thought. Lightning flashed and splattered the scene with white briefly, and she saw that the clouds had actually taken on an odd shade of dark purple. How unusual. She had seen it before, but it was still rare. What if they turned green from all the mako in the atmosphere? She chuckled, walking to the railing at the edge closest to where the storm was moving in from. She could just barely see the mountains in the distance with her mako eyes, across the desert. For being a person not particularly artistically gifted, she thought that people should take photographs of thunderstorms more often. But maybe that wouldn't work right. Painting the scene? That could turn out really cool… As lightning cracked again, closer this time, she looked down the side of the building to the ground. How high up was she—six stories? Something like that. A bolt of electricity made her look to the sky again—that had been a real fork of lightning, and it had struck something. She could smell it on the air. Hm. Not like it really concerned her, but she wondered absently what the chances were of—

"Hey th—"

"_Ahh!_" she exclaimed while launching a spinning roundhouse kick in the direction that had previously been behind her.

A person was standing just a few feet away, and they promptly flew about twenty feet back through the air. _Who are you and why didn't I hear you—_ she began to rage to herself, then stopped abruptly.

Damn it all, she recognized that spiky hair.

"Shit, Zack, remember the last time you took me by surprise?" She was at his side with inhuman speed, skidding on her knees, before she had to remember to try to tone down the physical signs of mako.

Zack groaned, sitting up. "Oh, Goddess, it is you. Yeah, I remember, but technically you jumped me, so my Goddess your eyes are bright!" he transitioned without taking an extra breath.

"Oh—are they?" Dead giveaways sucked. "Weird. I blame the mutant genes," she waved a hand dismissively. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine, just… Wow, you really do pack quite a punch. Or kick. Either way." He sat up all the way and turned his blue spotlight gaze on Diana through the rain. She was kneeling next to him, looking mildly anxious.

"I really do need to control myself once in a while. This is getting old," she muttered.

"Nah, I knew better, I shoulda done that a better way…" he protested. His wet hair stuck to his forehead, and his spikes were drooping more than usual.

"Don't go trying to blame yourself, Zack Fair, I know how you work," she teased him, feeling a bit better.

"_Me _blaming myself? Isn't that just the pot calling the kettle black? I mean, if you want a really great example of blame-taking, look no further than the corner of this roof—" Zack gestured widely.

"You mean a great example of overdramatizing?" she snorted.

"Perhaps, but that can't always be bad, is it?"

"Let's test that. Answer me truthfully: are you hurt anywhere?" she crossed her arms stubbornly.

He huffed and turned on the 'I'm-an-honest-and-innocent-puppy' eyes. "Noooo, I'm not. I'm indestructible, nothing can hurt me!" He smacked his chest jokingly, water flying off his dark shirt in little droplets.

"Oh, you're so full of it," she laughed, pushing him playfully.

When he didn't respond, Diana met his eyes in apprehension. He was studying her thoughtfully.

"What," she cocked her head to the side.

"When are you going to tell me what you were doing up here in the first place?" he wrinkled his nose, only half serious.

Diana suddenly had a thought as she glanced away, looking for a way out of that. Well… She was feeling a bit daring tonight, and maybe it had a little bit to do with the rain that was still pouring down on them. They were both soaked by now, and the storm was nearly right on top of Midgar.

"I've got a better idea," she said, then turned to meet the indigo eyes again. Before she could elaborate or Zack could ask her to, she leaned forward quickly and pressed her lips to his.

She had taken him by surprise, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to go along with it wholeheartedly. He shifted around to face her fully, sitting up on his knees to pull her closer.

As usual, her mind was as effectively scrambled as if the flickering lightning had struck her. But it didn't really matter, because it was just her and Zack and their feelings together right now.

Being the instigator, she decided to break off the kiss and to stand up quickly, just to irritate him. Doing so, she turned to him, laughing lightly. He was already standing as well and looking at her in mock disappointment. Walking to her previous spot by the railing, she turned her face to the sky again to continue to be peppered by thick, slightly warm raindrops.

"So why were you up here?" Zack joined her.

_Shoot, he didn't forget after all. Oh, well. It was a good try. And I'm not exactly complaining, either_, she thought mischievously. "Just taking a walk. Couldn't sleep," she said vaguely.

He made a face. "Only you would go for a midnight stroll on the roof during a thunderstorm," he sighed. "So now what?"

"I was wondering the same thing myself," Diana murmured, somewhat absently. She leaned on the waist-high railing. Suddenly Zack was right behind her, one hand appearing on the rail next to her. Turning so her back was to the edge, she realized how close he was. She always had to look up to see him, but he was _really _close. So she hopped up on the railing in an attempt to get up higher. She was almost at his level now…kind of.

He laughed at her efforts, his hands on either side of her now. "But aren't you afraid of falling?" he asked, a bit quietly.

She grinned and shook her head. "I'm not afraid of anything."

At this, Zack shrugged in grudging acknowledgment. Then his expression changed to a roguish smile. "So where were we again?" He moved closer, and as he did, Diana had another impulsive thought. When he was just a few inches away (tempting though it might be to just comply) she pushed off the rail with her feet, careful not to hit Zack in the face, flipped over backwards, and landed standing on the opposite side of the barrier, on the few feet of flat space before the real edge.

Looking up, laughing, she saw a mildly amazed Zack shaking his head. "You really are something, you know that?" he said.

She didn't respond, just moved forward to lean over the railing towards him. He met her halfway, kissing her almost carefully. Apparently not about to waste their time, he reached over and picked her up clear off the floor and over the railing, back to him. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her as close as he could. She flung her arms around his neck to run a hand through his soaked dark hair, and he made a little involuntary noise in the back of his throat. Diana suppressed the urge to giggle.

Zack had to be the one to end it this time; both their breathing was a little irregular. Taking her face in one hand for a moment, he traced over the scar on her cheekbone with his fingertip. How awful that must have been. For her to have gotten it so many years ago, and keep it so distinctly. He also knew for a fact that this girl did not scar easily, physically or mentally.

Something crossed her face as he touched the scar, and Diana knew it, too.

"Hey, Zack…come to think of it, I really did want to talk to you," she began.

"Yeah? What about?" He took a seat on the wet floor. It was still raining.

She copied him. She took a deep breath, then pointed to the scar. "This. I wanted to put right something I told you once…"

She couldn't tell him the entire truth. She just couldn't. It couldn't all go to hell quite yet. Because he was the one person that she was really, truly terr—freaked out about telling. He could hate her forever…but later. But she wasn't going to go along with the slightly smaller lie on her shoulders, so she was going to try to give him as much of the real story as possible.

"Remember on our first date, how you asked me where I got it?" She almost blushed—whoa. _When you called me pretty_.

"Uh-huh," he said. "And what you told me isn't what happened, was it?" he continued in the same breath.

"…You're right. I didn't say so because…"

"Wait, so you _did _lie?" He was freakishly calm.

"Not—yes. Yes, I did. I couldn't talk about it then…I just couldn't."

"I'll trust that, then. I suppose." Crap, it looked like he was feeling all wary now. _Way to go, you little idiot_, she thought scornfully to herself.

"…Thank you. It's just painful. You want the real story?"

He blinked. "Wait, so…you're going to tell me?"

She blinked back. "Well, there's no going back now, is there?"

He was silent for a moment, turning it over in his head and seeming to accept things for the moment. "Go ahead."

"A Wutaian soldier did it," she started bluntly. "It was a broadsword, and I'm lucky I got away with what I did."

His eyes widened and his nostrils flared slightly, all apprehension gone in an instant. "A soldier? How…is that possible?"

She sighed, sitting down on the cement. Zack joined her. "It was about…three months ago—wow, that long? I suppose that's right—but anyhow. My brother and I…and my cousin…we were in the mountains, near Kalm. We were just walking. Our cousin, he might as well have been our brother. We acted just like it—" and it was true, too: Jonathan had practically taken over Devon's role after he had died, and had been a well-known addition to the twins before, making them quite the infamous trio of teenagers. "—Anyways, all of a sudden, these troopers come out of nowhere. There were…" she thought, "maybe ten, a dozen of them? All had swords and guns, the whole nine yards. Who knows, maybe they were doing recon on all the cities remotely close to Midgar; we never found out. So they see us, and both Jonathan's and Dev's eyes have always been really bright, it runs in the family, and they had a couple weapons on them for protection, so I guess they mistook them for SOLDIERs on an errant mission or something. They…" she sped up, trying to get the words out as fast as she could now, "just attacked us, no mercy, and somehow I got smashed across the face, and turns out fractured my wrist too, and there was no way we were going to get out of there." Her eyes narrowed. "I wasn't even armed. J–Jon was the only one with a sword, and he yelled—he yelled for us to—to run, and…" she had to stop. She choked down whatever was struggling to come up her throat, and coughed in a weak attempt to still her voice. "…and to leave him, and I—we had no choice, we didn't have any way to defend ourselves—we got shot at on the way—and we barely made it into town before they could really catch us…the guards took care of those few, but the rest…we went back later, and…and there wasn't even a _body_—" a choking noise broke out from between her lips and her whole body shook once.

"Ohmygoddess." Zack took her into his arms quickly. He stroked her hair as she planted her forehead on his shoulder and gave into uncontrollable heaving sobs that racked her suddenly delicate frame. He shifted and pulled her onto his lap, murmuring softly to her.

How could someone so broken be so strong? If only he'd had any idea. No wonder she'd lied about it. He didn't want to imagine the amount of pride it had cost her to confide in someone, either. She was always so closed up, in a way—and now that Zack knew the things that he did, it was hardly a surprise.

Abruptly, he remembered a certain time just about a month ago. He had stayed behind, trying to give his comrades a chance to escape…including Devon. Then the kid had flung himself in front of Zack in an utterly idiotic and desperate move… Trying to prevent the past from repeating, Zack now realized. He choked back something foreign rising in his throat as well.

"Your brother saved my life once. Remember that?" he said quietly. "He wouldn't let the past repeat."

She shook again. That had been her…and those had been exactly her thoughts.

_Never again…_

_'What is it with you SOLDIERs and your altruistic suicide?'_

_'Run! You have to run! I'm giving you a shot!'_

_'Trust me, it's good for remembering past mistakes…'_

_'Don't you dare die on me!'_

_…How could this happen to me?_

"How long has it been since you let yourself do this?" he murmured, feeling heartbroken for the poor girl in his arms. She didn't break down. Ever. But now the aura emanating from her just felt…_hopeless_. Like a current was dragging her away, and she couldn't hold on waiting for salvation any longer.

She tried to say something incomprehensible. Then she finally managed a watery but somehow unwavering, "_Never_." Not a single time had she cried for her brother. For a while, it was just the simple inability to comprehend. After all, there had been no body. What were the chances he might walk through the door, fully alive and laughing, at any time? But after that…she had just slowly hardened into a shell and then a core of impenetrability. Since leaving home, though…that protection had begun to crack, and whether that was a good or a bad thing, she had yet to decide. And it had just been shattered to pieces.

She was crying, Zack realized numbly. He wasn't sure she had been capable…but apparently she was. "Oh, dragonfly…" He remembered the nickname he had given her, realizing that she really _was _that fragile. _Never?_ Never. Wow. Small wonder she was a mess now… He squeezed her closer to him and murmured to her soothingly, the pounding rain drowning out her sobs.

Something small, wet, and unfamiliar coursed down her cheek swiftly. Then another one. And a third retraced the path of the first, leaking into the corner of her mouth. It was salty and warm, different from the tainted cool rain that kept beating down on the rest of her. A large, warm, and solid something was shielding her from the worst of it—oh, it was Zack. Of course it was Zack…of course he would stay to be there for her… A fourth, from the other eye this time. More than she had cried in years, by now. And since that day…never.

**-Early April; three months ago-**

"Di—_GO_!"

She couldn't argue. He wasn't going to let her argue. He wasn't going to let her dismiss the order, or ignore him, or be stupid about it; he just wanted her to, just this one time if ever, listen to him and _run_. It was all she had to do.

She froze in place, eyes wide, mouth slightly open in shock and fear, trembling in small quivers, completely unsure of what to do.

He knew she wasn't going to leave him there. But all he wanted was for her to get away. There was no way to get her to go successfully, unless he pushed her all the way down the mountain. But that couldn't happen. He couldn't look away for a second. He couldn't spare a glance to the trees around him, nor to the ground beneath his feet that was carpeted with snow, or to his weapons, or to his sister. And there was no way to get her out and away. No way at all…

"No," she said in a small voice before she became assertive again. "No, never! I can't—I won't—"

"Di. Go. I love you. Now, go." He steeled himself. Although for what, he wasn't quite sure. Anything could happen. _Anything can happen in a heartbeat…_

"N–no! I—" she paused suddenly, eyes still wide. She took in the shape of her brother standing in the snow, his back to her. He felt her eyes on him and sent up several urgent, desperate prayers. _If you're listening…_

Her posture relaxed, then hardened, like she wasn't planning on doing anything but the exact opposite of his words… "I love you, Dev." Then she suddenly turned and pelted away down the mountain.

_Thank you. Oh, thank you… Smart girl. Smart, smart girl…_ Devon praised his sister. He then realized that these faceless enemies in front of him weren't going to let her get away. She could get away and raise the alarm—at least, he prayed to Gaia again that that was exactly what she was planning on doing. Then maybe these people would be caught… He purposefully didn't think of what would happen to him in any situation. One could call that a character flaw of his. The tendency to throw himself in front of other people to protect them, regardless of his own safety or situation or condition. Not even just people he loved; anyone who was in trouble. He constantly laid things on the line for ones he hardly knew, or didn't at all. Most people didn't understand this strange habit of his… Constantly taking proverbial the bullets for others. Hopefully it was enough to save someone he loved possibly the most in this world…this one time. It was all he was asking for.

The entire exchange and tangent of thought took all of a few seconds, and then the soldiers facing him down realized that target number two was making an escape. One yelled something. It confused Devon momentarily, because he had assumed that the speech seemed garbled at first on account of the helmet the speaker was wearing. When his mind didn't work through and comprehend the distorted words, he realized that it was in fact a foreign language. It sounded…Wutaian. That was exactly what it was.

Either way, three of the soldiers barked a reply in unison and went tearing off to Devon's left. Down the hill. Towards the town. After his sister. He involuntarily half-lurched toward the three, but knew there was no hope. He would be a goner the instant he took his attention off the eight-odd others in front of him.

So he screamed. "_Di, look OUT!_" he yelled, praying she could hear him, or hear them coming. Or better, outrun them. She was abnormally fast. And she had a good set of lungs on her. She could yell for help from the guards. She would be okay.

He prayed quickly again.

The one who seemed to be in charge snapped something else in the choppy, harsh language.

Four massive sidearm were raised. Four shots blasted off. Four bullets screamed just past Devon.

Their eyes widened behind their visors, invisible to the teenager standing before them.

The eyes of the teenager—for that was in truth all he was—narrowed.

And he charged them with a violent yell, broadsword swinging.

He was going to give it his all. He was going on another insane endeavor. He was going to let his instincts and training take over.

And he would take on the world,

Just

Like

That.

It was too bad that he and his skills hadn't gotten the chance to join SOLDIER.

He was bleeding…

It was too bad it had to be this way.

Too much. Too much, too fast, but he could take it. He could take anything for the sake of what he was now fighting to defend.

It was too bad that he had nothing left to give.

He was spent, utterly and completely and in agony…

It was too bad this had to be the end.

…And irreversibly.

It was too bad that something still remained to make it hurt.

He hoped that she had gotten away. He could almost hear her, yelling his name… Almost. Was it almost? It seemed awfully real. But his ears could detect no female voice through the snow-draped trees.

He inhaled shakily, fighting hard to take that breath. He had fought until the end…

Someone looking at him would wonder how, or why, he was still alive. Blood was everywhere, soaking into the powdery whiteness all around and tainting it forever. Blood spilled by faceless enemies. Blood infused with the honest purity of its previous owner, now lying in the snow, choking on each weak signal of life that slipped past his lips.

Yet it was his perfect end.

He refused to just disappear, to be forever erased from the history books. He hoped they would remember him… Because he knew there was no more hope now.

_For the both of us…_

He thought it barely consciously, not expecting his thought to be continued by a quiet little voice coming from an unfelt corner of his mind. It was probably a hallucination that it echoed,

_"For the…both of us?"_

_You're gonna… _he thought, barely able to form coherent thoughts in sentences anymore, and almost forgetting who he was thinking of in these thoughts. Almost.

_"You're gonna…?"_

He smiled gently, eyes just barely half closed. _Live._

Carrying on the hallucination was taking all too much energy, and he just exhaled peacefully, leaving it at that. His breath was taken away swiftly, disappearing into the chilly air. Freezing, wet _something _was soaking through to his back, different from the hot stickiness that seemed to be everywhere at once. Maybe that was because it really was everywhere…

He didn't want to leave. He had a life, friends, family. A future. The whole world ahead of him. But he was trying to save someone, so…it was…okay. He didn't want it to have to be this way. But there was no going back now, and there was no other way to have done it. It was going to be okay now…his perfect end.

Couldn't the slow suffering end already? He wanted to be done with this… The enemies he had killed laid a ways away, blue and cold already. Why was it taking so long…? He tried and failed to turn his head, but with the movement, he took notice of a little glow in the midst of the darkness that he saw the sky as. It was a deep blue, actually, but he could hardly even feel anymore, never mind see…

_Take me with you. Carry me, lift me up…_

_Carry me to heaven's arms…_

_Let me go; all you have to do is light the way for me._

_My breath is gone already; this is the end of it all._

_The last thing that filled his vision was a flash of brightest, glassy lavender._

_Dear agony… I will end where I began._

And then the lights went out on the one last breath he had fought for.

**-The present-**

Diana was gasping heavily, dry sobbing again, the tears winding down finally.

Zack rubbed her back, cradling her in his arms.

It took her a moment, but she worked an arm free of where it had been lodged in her fetal position and wiped briefly at her face before encircling his middle with both arms, holding on like he was a life preserver. Which, in an ironic manner of speaking, he was. "Thank you," she whispered, able to get the words out clearly.

"It's okay," he murmured again. "You don't have to explain anything else, just hold on, you're okay…"

"Thank you," she insisted simply.

"I – what? Oh, Gaia, don't go and thank me now—" Having a thought, he reconsidered and relented "—but if it'll make you feel better, then okay. You're welcome." After a moment, he spoke again. "We should go…"

"Oh – oh, of course. Yeah," she mumbled, shaking her head and wiping off the other side of her face, streaked with rain and tears. It was still spitting sprinkles down on the two.

Zack took one more considering look at what he could see of her face, and just went and picked her up, one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. She buried her face in his chest again, looking very small and breakable at the moment.

Once they had maneuvered back down the steps and into the building again, Zack shifted Diana effortlessly to his back. "Where do you want to go?" he asked softly. Because, in all honesty, he had no idea what to do with her. Taking her back to his place would just be weird at this point, and he was pretty sure that she would want to be mostly alone in a little bit, if he knew her well at all.

"Just take me back to m…my brother's dorm," she mumbled, eyes drooping closed with the weight of the world on her mind.

"Will you be okay there?"

"Uh-huhmm." Goddess, she was tired…so tired… She didn't even care at this point; she could deal with her girliness in the morning.

"'Kay. One minute." He smiled gently back at her and the ghost of a smile appeared on her lips as her eyelids drifted closed again.

A few moments later, he had used his master key into his friends' dorm and finally agreed to leave her there. She said (albeit somewhat blearily) that she would crash on the couch. So he gathered her into another tight embrace and kissed her forehead, bidding her goodnight and leaving for his own rooms.

She promptly stumbled around and across the room to her bed, flopping down on the blessedly soft surface, not even sure if her head was still on straight. She was asleep in a land of no dreams before her head even hit the pillow.

**A/N: *wails* Why are these people so tortured? Oh yeah...I invented this...right, right. So Zack knows the kind-of truth now. He gets it, even if he's still misinformed on who exactlyl is dead. And I'm not just bringing this up over and over again to make things more painful-Devon's role is actually really important. You'd kill me if I told you why, but the story kinda comes back to haunt her later. I mean, more so. But, other than the depressing stuff, I thought the air vent episode was kinda hilarious XD Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, and please review! :)**


	26. Healing Fast

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I came. I saw. I conquered. Except not the ownership of FFVII. That's for some other lucky s.o.b. to hang on to.**

**A/N: I'm back after one kick-butt weekend! YAY for church trips XD it was the bomb. Nothing beats seaweed wars in the ocean with awkward sports bra moments :D Today was basically "let's send run4life to hell in a handbasket day" so it kinda really sucked. Just in general NOT MY DAY. But the high point was that I tried running-I do cross country and have been out for two weeks as a result of these freak shin splints that turned into a muscle strain that neither the trainer nor my doctor had a name for-today on a treadmill cause it was gross outside during practice, and I did a full 2.6 miles in like 22 minutes with absolutely no pain :D I'm reallllllly excited about this so maybe I can race on Wednesday and yeah so that was the only good thing that happened to me today. Except reading. And writing. And updating. (Nah, really?) _Anyhoo_, I'm back and hopefully UltimateFreedom is caught up by now, AREN'T YOU, MY BFF? ahem haha jk you know how I feel about it :) So the order of events here is basically... So have fun, enjoy and review please! :)**

**Chapter 26: Healing Fast**

**-Morning; Wednesday, 3 July****-**

She was unbelievably tired, and didn't wake up once for the rest of the night. Cloud finally had the decency to poke at her back a few times around 0900 hours, but she batted his hand away and dove farther under the covers, burying her head under her pillow.

"I dunno what's wrong with him—I know he hates mornings, and we don't have anywhere to be, but…" Cloud's soft voice was saying in the kitchen. He didn't really want to have to get Diana up. For all he knew, she had had nightmares or something and had been up half the night in a cold sweat! So he thought it would be best to just leave her alone and ask questions later. He just wanted to avoid his other roommates asking questions, was the only thing.

Around 1000 hours, Max got bored and his gaze drifted to the doorway to where Devon and Cloud slept. He could see the end of a heap of covers, and humming tunelessly to himself, he crept into the room.

Devon's shape was hardly discernable for everything flung over and around him. Usually his friend complained about the heat, having come from Kalm, but he must have gotten cold in the night, because there was an abnormally large amount of extra blankets on his bed.

"Yo. Dude, you really suck at getting up." He crossed his arms and made a face, maintaining a good several feet from his friend. Being _too _too close was weird, in his mind. Okay, well, Shane he could jump on, but that was because they were real roommates. Dev attacked Cloud all the time…oh, that was the answer!

"Hey, Cloud! Get in here and get this one up! This can't be healthy, and if he's sick or something, well, he can tell us once he's conscious!"

Cloud sighed, striding into the room lazily. "SOLDIERs can't get sick, Max. Not from the normal airborne diseases, at least." He gave pause and froze mid step at the look his brown-haired friend was giving him. "—Oh, come on, man! He doesn't have _mono_. Are you kidding? Here, he's fine, I bet he was just tired yesterday; probably some more freak extra training or something. Dev. Come on, buddy, you gotta give us a sign of life, here."

"Mrrrrrgh," 'Devon' insisted.

"…I see."

"Well," Max sighed, "if you're gonna get difficult, we're gonna hafta get creative—" He grabbed an armful of covers and yanked as much as he could off the foot of the bed. His efforts were instantly rewarded, if in a rather left-handed kind of way.

"YOU DUMBASS—" 'Devon' roared, lunging blindly for the covers in a sudden fit of speed. "Wha? Wha's goin' on? Where'm I—?" She finally opened her eyes, able to do so only for the lack of the bright overhead light and the absence of her overall comfort. "…Huh?"

Everything rushed back to her at once: last night's nightmare, going for a walk, meeting Zack, breaking down, feeling awful, getting deposited on the couch before moving to her bed, and deciding she'd deal with her girl problems in the morning… Ah, crap. _What's the story? Stick to the truth? Yeah. Just that I was left on the couch and my brother must've found me and moved me before taking off._

"Where _am _I?" she repeated, acting this time. She really had been utterly confused a few seconds ago, and she was still regaining her bearings.

Max was in some kind of state of mild shock, close to twitching but not yet sputtering, while Cloud rolled his eyes and decided to inquire about his female friend's antics later. "This is Diana, genius," he muttered to Max.

"But – but – how'd you – I don't – where's –?" And there went the sputtering.

Shane chose that moment to saunter in, and stopped in the doorway when he caught sight of his friend's sister sitting in said friend's bed, looking dazed and confused, while Cloud sat on the bed looking exasperated and Max sputtered, not quite yet to the hyperventilation level of confusion.

"Idiot," he muttered. "Hi, Diana. What happened?"

"Uhm…well, late last night I was out walking and ran into Zack." Her face apparently decided to turn slightly pink at this point in time, much to her chagrin. She ignored herself (because that made complete and total sense) and continued on vaguely. "…Long story short, Zack brought me back here and used his key," she glanced at Max, "and I fell asleep on the couch. But…I don't remember moving… And where's Dev?"

Cloud shrugged. "No clue. Guess he found you and moved you here sometime…then ran?" He made a face. "Whatever."

"Hmph. Well, anyways—hey, guys," she sighed, turning to look at Max and Shane in turn, Shane nodding in acknowledgment while Max continued to gape. She wrinkled her nose. "And if you'll excuse me…can I use your bathroom?" she inquired of Cloud. It was a really funny thing to have to ask, seeing as how it was actually hers.

He grunted, waving a hand toward the bathroom door. "Feel free."

"Cool." She landed unsteadily, but managed to get across the floor in a straight line, and was still able to cross the room noiselessly.

"Dear Gaia, they even walk the same," came Shane's voice as Diana shut the door.

She snickered, her good humor restored a bit, even if her head was in complete disarray. However, approximately twenty seconds later, that was all to change.

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? WHAT KIND OF SICK JOKE IS THIS! I BET YOU'RE LAUGHING, GAIA—I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU TELL ME I HAFTA DO, SUPPOSED FEARS OR INFERIORITY COMPLEXES OR OTHER CRISES, CAN'T I JUST SKIP THIS PART? DAMN IT ALL, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FACE MY PROBLEMS IF MY BODY WON'T COOPERATE—" Diana trailed off into a steady stream of angry mutterings as she realized that 1. The three young men in the next room had probably heard more than they'd ever want to about what they must have discerned to be feminine issues, and 2. It probably wasn't a great idea to go screaming at the Goddess about her instructions and so-called "advice" in just any company. Well, at this point, she didn't care! It wasn't even her time yet! According to her usual schedule, she was supposed to have another two to three weeks to go! Just – just damn it all, damn it all to hell…

Diana stalked out of the bathroom to a very wide pair of dark chocolate brown eyes, a very wide pair of foxy reddish-brown eyes, and a very wide and fearful pair of sky blue eyes. She breathed once. In. …Out.

Clasping her hands in front of her and smiling brightly, she shrugged. "Well, that's that, then—!" She looked around to make sure she was all in one piece, then decided to make a hasty exit to Tifa's, possibly to sleep some more…Gaia, but she was tired. "I've gotta be going, but I'll see you all later, I'm sure!" she waved hastily and slipped out the door, breaking into a run and traveling the most secretive (also the most well-worn by Diana) path to Tifa's rooms before anyone could see her and start getting curious.

Max blinked spastically. Shane's angular face broke into a grin. "I like this girl!" he proclaimed, laughing and heading for the fridge again.

"What just happened…?" his unofficial twin asked weakly.

"Well. This is how it happened," Cloud began importantly, his soft voice unusually stern, partially in an attempt to keep a straight face. "Apparently Dev's twin sister crashed our dorm in the night, then once our gallant friend found her, he nobly moved her to his bed and slept on the couch. Also he must have left early in an attempt to avoid coming into contact with said sister. And we've been sitting here all morning, not realizing it wasn't even him sleeping over there, and then, uh…" he paused and made a face. "I'm actually not quite sure what happened then."

"Women," Shane offered as an explanation, his head emerging from behind the refrigerator door momentarily.

"There ya go." Cloud cocked his head in his direction.

"…Uh-huh," Max said uncertainly. He shook himself. "Rrrrr. I don't think I'll ever understand them," he shuddered. After a moment of staring into space, his gaze slid back to the bed Cloud was still sitting on that Diana had been sleeping in.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "What."

"Nothing. I was just thinking… Zack is one lucky man." He exhaled emphatically and went to join Shane, leaving Cloud to blink once and break into hysterics.

Diana burst into Tifa's room for what was probably the millionth time, and with a million more to come. "Teef, I need your phone and a Shinra company phone directory, stat," she called out, eyes wide.

"Whoa!" Tifa yelped, running out into the front room, a towel slung over her shoulder and her long hair still dripping. "Whoa. What happened to you? …What _happened _to you?" She looked her very obviously female friend up and down in confusion. Di was supposed to be on duty, wasn't she?

"Long story, I'll explain after I make a call. Tell me you do have one of those directories. And stop looking so freaked out, no one's dying. I'm just…having issues," she understated, trying to look calm and sane.

"Uh, sure, I'll look – I'm pretty sure I do have one – and do you wanna take these back to the bathroom for me? Just stick them in the cupboard under the sink." Tifa absently handed Diana a bag from the pharmacy with a bunch of little boxes and bottles inside.

The brunette shrugged and complied, unpacking the pills and whatnot into the messily organized drawer. _Generic decongestant…fever reducer…pain reliever…cough drops…hang on a sec._

She took the cylinder containing the pain relievers back into her palm. _Adult dosage: no more than 2 capsules in 6-8 hours. Consult a doctor or local physician if…_ Yeah, well, she was about to get a doctor on the line, so whatever.

"Teef! Mind if I take some Advil?" she yelled into the kitchen, where she could hear drawers banging and Tifa muttering.

"Go ahead!" her friend yelled back.

"Thanks!" She pushed and turned the lid, emptying some of the pea-sized capsules into her hand. _Four? That should be good for about half the day. Maybe less._

She downed them quickly with water from the tap, gagging slightly when one stuck in her throat. Lurching forward in a coughing fit, she banged her shin on a sharp drawer handle (household appliances were generally not her best friends in the world, regardless if they belonged to her actual best friend or not) and suppressed a curse.

Bending down to see the war wound, she watched it turn red and swell some within a few seconds. Then it turned dark blue, then a sickly greenish-yellow, finally to a tan a shade or two darker than her ordinary skin tone. It blended and dissolved into the skin surrounding it in another moment. The entire process took about fifteen seconds.

She straightened up and grinned suddenly. _I love mako._ Speaking of which, the pills were already taking effect, and the tight pinching and cramping around her abdomen eased off bit by bit. Sad thing was, even the double dosage would wear off in a couple of hours. Good thing she'd anticipated the need for pain pills and had several containers in her bag in the dorm.

Peering at her reflection, she exhaled loudly. She still wasn't entirely used to her new appearance yet, over a week later… Mako sure did work in odd ways. The only upside that tried to disguise itself as a downside in light of her situation was the alterations to her facial features. She liked the look, as she had thought before, but seeing as how it enhanced one's appearance, naturally she looked just that much more feminine. Oh, well. At least she had gotten this far without sprouting an extra limb, something she frequently muttered about. …Except that she had just found a new little development. Her eyes were an ordinary gray, what with her being in a relatively neutral state, but when she started looking at her wavy hair… She pulled part of it back and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Roots were always darker than ends, but this looked a little too drastic to be natural. Yep, her roots were jet black, all right. Well, on the bright side, it was only the roots. That meant that the hair dye was working. Except that, apparently, she would have to keep reapplying it, and often, too. Her hair grew much faster now, with the enhancements.

"Jeez," she muttered, letting her hair fall down to her shoulders again. "Can't decide whether I love the danged green stuff or not."

"Got the book! Knew it was in here somewhere," Tifa called triumphantly, holding a fat yellow book in the air.

"Thank Gaia. Okay, uh, what heading is she under…science department? I think not…aha. Medical personnel. Gainsborough…Aerith. Okay, awesome. Aw, you hafta call the department office to get her? Hmph. Fine, whatever. I'll just be a sec, then I'll explain _everything_," she promised to Tifa as she picked up the receiver and dialed carefully. Get the wrong office and things could get awkward fast.

It rang twice. "Shinra Electric Power Company, Medical Office, how may I help you?" chirped a voice from the other end of the line.

"Hi, can I talk to Aerith Gainsborough if she's free?" Diana asked politely, extracting a disbelieving snort from Tifa. She shot her friend a look as the secretary began speaking again.

"Sure, I don't think she's busy at the moment, if you can hold for a moment… And may I ask who's calling?"

Diana paused. "You can just tell her that it's Diana."

"Okay then, hang on just a minute!"

There was the faint _clunk _of someone putting the phone down, and muffled, echoing voices in the background. After a moment, someone picked up the phone again while Diana tapped her fingers impatiently on the kitchen counter.

"Diana?"

"Oh, good. Hi, Aerith," she sighed in relief.

"Hi there! What's up? You're okay, aren't you?" the medic asked worriedly.

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine…I think… I want to talk to you about some iffy stuff, though. Can I meet you somewhere, like really soon? I'm _Diana_, and I think _I _need to be somewhere soon…" she hinted heavily, not daring to say anything else over the phone.

"Oh. Oh, okay, sure. You can just stop by the front desk and ask for me, we can use my office. I'm honestly just hanging around with nothing to do," Aerith laughed gently.

"Thank you so much. I'll see you in a little bit!"

"Alrighty then. Bye."

Diana hung up and sighed again. "Thank Gaia."

"What happened now?"

She turned to her friend, waving a hand at her hair. "My roots are black. Like, black. I'll have to keep reusing that hair dye. And I just raided your pain pill supply 'cause SURPRISE guess what I woke up with this morning?" she threw her hands in the air. "Well…that was after…well, I'll just start at the beginning."

So she explained her nightmare of being frozen behind glass, to waking up and traveling to the roof, to meeting Zack up there. ("Tell me what the chances of that are! Honestly, there's some kinda funky fate connection going on here!" Tifa had insisted.) To her breakdown, to the fact that Zack had some inkling of some part of the truth now, to going back to the dorm and conking out til late that morning. Then waking up, her unorthodox encounter with her roommates, and her lovely little discovery: the initial reason for her desire to consult Aerith.

"Goddess, that sucks," Tifa declared. "How many pills did you take?"

"Four. I'll take another four this afternoon, and probably a couple more before bed—"

"_What? _You do know the six-to-eight hour rule, don't you? …Oh." She gave pause at the raised-eyebrow look Diana was giving her. "Oh, it's the mako, isn't it. Jeez, not only does it burn off alcohol… And food. And chemicals. And poisons. And drugs, apparently."

"No kidding. Kinda irritating that way. I wouldn't give it up, though," the SOLDIER declared, standing tall. "Not at all. It's so much more than worth it, especially 'cause I'm gonna make Second." She grinned suddenly, gazing into space, hands on hips.

Tifa gave her a few seconds before breaking in. "Okay, you're severely channeling Zack right now. That's just scary."

Diana chuckled. "Yeah, that's all this world needs. What can I say. We hang out too much," she shrugged.

Tifa made an overly patent fake coughing noise. "A-HEM yes, I think we all caught wind of that when you discovered you'd been sleeping next to each other COUGH in the same bed AHEMMM all night after a bar! COUGH!"

Diana groaned loudly and flung herself across the room to flop facedown on the couch. "I'm never gonna live that one down, am I?" she asked wearily, her voice muffled by the cushions.

"Nope!" her friend grinned cheerfully. "Glad you're so accepting of the facts! And go hurry up and go see Aerith, she's probably waiting for you," she chided.

"Oh, right, okay, I'm going—Goddess, I probably look like a mental case right now—I'll see you later!"

"Hi, I'm here to see Aerith Gainsborough." Diana panted slightly, having burst into the lobby of the medical wing. She was pretty sure that she either looked like an escaped convict, a desperate frazzled chick on the rebound, or some kind of freak who was extremely high and severely tripping at the moment and would claim any second to have only recently escaped the purple tie-dyed chocobos that were invading Midgar and flying in on magic carpets made of magical rainbow sparkles. Or (somehow) a combination of the three.

The receptionist appeared to recognize her at a glance and continued typing hurriedly on her computer. "Sorry, Devon, she can't take any visitors today. You can try back tomorrow, though…"

Diana sighed quietly. She had thrown her hair up into a messy bun on the way over in an attempt to tame the frizzy, disheveled mess, and was wearing a slightly baggy jacket. "Oh. Silly of me—sorry. I'm not Devon."

The girl looked up in mild confusion at the voice that was just a bit too high for belonging to a male. "I—oh! I'm sorry. What's your name?" she blinked, startled.

"Diana. Loveless." She could have died laughing. Funny enough that a large part of the faculty all over Shinra already knew who 'Devon' was—now she was being mistaken for him! This was great. "…Devon's my twin."

"My goodness." The receptionist shook her head. "I'm sorry. My fault… Yes, Aerith's waiting for you in her office. Down the second hallway and it's the last one on the right. Have a good day!" she smiled brightly.

"Thanks a lot, you too." Diana smiled back and took off down the hall.

Halfway there, a nosy-looking doctor got in her way. "Sorry, but SOLDIERs are not cleared to be in here today, so if you will please come right this way…." He tried to usher her back the way she had come.

She didn't budge, and crossed her arms. "Well, Doctor, it's a good thing I'm not a SOLDIER, then, isn't it?"

He peered at her through his glasses and gave a start. "Terribly sorry, I…"

"Don't mention it. Have a nice day," she said automatically, walking quickly off again.

"Aerith?" She pushed the door to the indicated office open, revealing not much more than a closet, jammed with files and bookshelves as well as a wooden desk. Where there was nothing official, potted plants and vines reigned supreme. In the middle of it all was Aerith, holding a watering can and dressed in a uniform white coat.

"Oh, you're here! There's a problem, isn't there? What do you need?" The girl rushed over to Diana, braid swinging.

Diana inhaled heavily, but just one word came out. "…Help?"

**-Several days later: Sunday, 7 July-**

"I'm telling you, I'm not getting in!" she crossed her arms tightly for what felt like the millionth time.

"Aw, c'mon, Dev…"

"Why no-ot?"

"It's just—"

"—a little water!"

Diana glowered at her friends. Shane and Max had taken to finishing each other's sentences lately, and quite frankly, she wasn't entirely sure they weren't soul twins separated at birth.

"…" She grumbled unintelligibly, knowing they could probably hear her every utterance anyway.

"…Pleeeeeease?" Zack wheedled, treading water not eight feet away from her.

"AAAAAAHHH!"

The puppy eyes didn't stop or even falter, even when his head was drenched all over again by the splash created by Cloud's surprisingly impressive cannonball.

She kept glaring at Zack. It was hardly an appropriate time, all things considered, to be taking to staring at him, but her self-control was going fast. For Gaia's sake, the guy was freaking shirtless and swimming! What were her hormones supposed to tell her to do?

The famous (or infamous, depending upon whom you asked) five had decided to take a day trip to a tiny village not too far south of Midgar on their day off. The village was known for its unpolluted natural springs, something that Diana would have been extremely happy with—had she not been acting as a male. She couldn't very well strip down, and besides, bandages weren't exactly waterproof! She didn't know how much longer she could take of her desire to jump in the water as well as her friends' constant nagging.

Not to mention they were all shirtless, too, naturally.

She sighed. Things were going so well for her and Zack—as Diana, she meant. They had grown closer, and with minimal awkwardness, after her breakdown to him on the roof. He was always sensitive, it seemed to her, but she was glad he hadn't become super-cautious around her and treated her like she was extremely fragile all the time. She didn't need to be handled like glass, and she was grateful he realized so.

Just sometimes, and only sometimes, Diana would catch Zack giving her this…look. She didn't know quite what it was. It was a bit of a desire to say something that was being kept bottled up, a bit of careful gentleness, and just a bit of reluctance. She had absolutely no clue what that was supposed to mean, all put together. But she supposed whatever it might be that was bothering Zack, he would come out with it soon enough. He never had been good with keeping quiet: with emotions, secrets, or otherwise. For now, she was content with how the two of them were together.

She really was quite happy with her life at the moment.

…Except that she really wanted to be in that water right now.

Hang on a sec.

She had a sudden idea and got up abruptly, extracting a positive reaction from her friends that changed to confusion when she made a beeline for the small bags they had brought along.

Rummaging for Cloud's, she pulled it up triumphantly. "Ah. Here we are," she murmured.

"Hey, hey! Whaddaya doing? I take it back, I take it back—!" Cloud yelped, splashing frantically.

"Oh, chill, I'm not into sabotage…at the moment," she scoffed, finally finding what she had been looking for.

Cloud always had materia on him.

Ice. _Please no._ Cure. _Not yet, at least_. Fire. _Bad idea. Come on, he said he had one… Oh, score!_ She nearly cackled, holding the small glowing sphere aloft and retreating surreptitiously behind a grove of trees as she realized her friends were no longer watching her.

As she muttered at the orb in concentration, it began to go from a pulsating glow to a bright shine. A moment later, she emerged from the trees, grinning in triumph. The skin around her middle tingled from the contact with magic, and she radiated a faint lingering green color not too much unlike her eyes at the moment.

"Everyone _look out!_" she crowed, wrestling out of her long-sleeved top and flinging it to the side as she jumped high above the pool of water. She landed with more of a _splosh _than a _splash_, but that was okay. She resurfaced, laughing, her baggy shorts swishing oddly around her legs.

"Whaddaya know, you're not dead!" Cloud exclaimed sarcastically, while at the same time giving her a quizzical look.

"Materia equals protection," she grinned, pointing to the parts of the bandages that crossed over her shoulders and chest underneath her tank top.

His expression cleared. "Ahhh."

"_Surprise!_"

"AGH—" and she had to hold her breath out of instinct, because she was underwater all of a sudden.

Spluttering, she rounded on Zack, who was treading water nearby, sniggering infuriatingly. He stopped abruptly at the look on his small friend's face. "Ah shit—" He dove underwater and began shooting away fast.

"Yeah, you better run!" she yelled, although he probably couldn't tell what she was saying. She dove and raced after him, delighting in the easiness of gliding through the water with what she still thought of as her new body.

A moment later, she was lying on her stomach in the midst of some convenient bushes by the edge of the pond, stalking her prey that was looking around in confusion, turning this way and that farther out in the deeper water. _And… GO!_

She hopped into a crouch and pushed off with her feet, flying a good several yards forward toward her target.

Zack had turned halfway to the noise he had heard and was greeted by a face full of water and SOLDIER.

"Take that!" 'Devon' cackled, full-on tackling his superior.

"AHH, HELP—!"

All in all…it was a pretty epic day off.

**A/N: Heehee, I just love it when our favorite people have such fun :) They deserve it. Especially Diana, with her...issues... I bet Max was scarred for LIFE XD I hafta admit that was way too much fun making up. So thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it :D And review please!**


	27. Splatters On The Records

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: If I owned FFVII and lived in Midgar, I'd be working in a certain coffee shop that gets mentioned. But I don't, so I guess I'll have to settle for visiting that place across town. Who knows, maybe a few Thirds will show up one of these days.**

**A/N: Another update, as promised and pretty much on schedule! We begin to get into some heavy drama. Ooh... Well, you'll see. So, as you may or may not have noticed, I've been getting a lot more specific with dates and times and all in the story. Honestly, it's just to keep the timeframe straight. It gets way too confusing for my little brain to handle "a few days later after a week and two days before that but in three weeks..." et cetera. All I advise you to do to keep up with Diana's frame of mind here is to pay attention to the little details. All I'm gonna say :) And I decided to start replying to reviews here. Just cause I like talking to people ^^**

**Shadow of a Broken Angel: Why then thanks so much for reading and keeping up with my madness! Here's your update :)**

**LoveTheCrazy: Oh thank you as always. And my day really did stink, Monday and Tuesday of last week were like official "Let's send run4life to hell in a handbasket" days. Honestly, cramps plus awful day at school Monday plus feeling gross at the end of the day equals unhappy way to start the week. The high point was my discovery that I can run again, and the meet Wednesday is against our biggest rivals MUAHAHAHA. Then Tuesday was feeling like worse crap plus leaving school after fourth period plus post-PMS (is that what it's called?) plus a ton of homework...it just wasn't good. So thanks. And I am _loads_ better now.**

**Sayonara: Hahaha, glad I made you do that ^^ epic win. Glad you enjoyed it.**

**ShatterTheHeavens: Yes, Di/Dev did in fact just go swimming with a bunch of guys XD Thought that would be a pretty great moment. What would we do without Cloud's ever-present materia? It was all good, no one noticed, et cetera (well, except Cloud already knows, but you know). Yay update now :) And gracias for the cookies. *gasps* Can I just take a second and enlighten you on the matter of BACON COOKIES? So you have a regular sugar cookie, then you put yummy maple frosting on it, then you put cut-up bacon pieces on top :DDDD It's DELICIOUS. Just saying. It's, like, _the perfect _cookie for me.**

**Chapter 27: Splatters On The Records**

**-The next week: Monday, 15 July-**

"Oh, sorry! Sorry…" Diana said hastily, having nearly taken out a secretary in the Shinra main lobby.

"No problem," the secretary replied coolly, and picked up a tablet of paper she had dropped while Diana collected a few books.

Diana looked up sharply. She recognized this secretary…especially the flaming red hair. "Hey, you're Scarlet, right?"

The woman looked at her. "I am. How did you know?"

Dang, she had the potential to be a real beeyotch. The apparent disdain for others was practically radiating off her. So Diana decided to turn on the extra sweetness. "Oh, everyone knows you, are you kidding? I recognized your hair. Which is fabulous, by the way." She smiled, the over-killed charm sickening even her.

"Oh! Well, thanks!" Scarlet dropped the attitude faster than you could blink, and was all sugar now too. "So…what's your name again?"

"I'm Diana Loveless. Nice to meet you."

"Same to you. I'm Scarlet." She actually looked mildly interested in Diana as a person. Huh. Go figure. And with no last name, apparently…

"Awesome. So where are you going?" Diana tried to make conversation as they began walking the same way.

"Oh, just delivering some stuff to Lazard." The redhead waved a hand airily. "Boring, really. I simply don't see how that man can do the job that he does."

"Tell me about it. I think I'd die." Diana rolled her eyes. A group of men walked by and did a double take, blatantly staring as the two young women passed them. She glared out of the corners of her eyes in mild irritation, while Scarlet offered them a flirtatious smile.

Once they were out of sight, Scarlet laughed softly. "Brrr. Why the harsh treatment?"

"Huh? Oh. Eh, I don't really know." Diana wrinkled her nose. "I guess I've just grown up around a bunch of guys and I'd rather be treated like someone you talk to as opposed to something you look at and judge."

"I suppose…" she shrugged. "I don't really mind, myself. I mean, it's not like I know them or anything. So, you grew up with a lot of brothers?" she asked innocently.

It was her turn to laugh dryly. "I get that a lot. But no, just one brother. Twin, actually."

"Really? That's kind of cool. You look alike?"

"Unbelievably so. We get mistaken for each other from the back," Diana chuckled, remembering a recent fairly awkward instance.

"Whoa. How? I mean, obviously if he's a guy, then you have to be different, don't you?"

Diana was starting to appreciate Scarlet a little more. She wasn't so evil when she wasn't stalking Zack through the cafeteria. And some shallow, light conversation was a really nice thing to have at this point. "Well, we have similar body types, especially if we're wearing baggy clothes, and he keeps his hair long and in a ponytail. So, yeah…"

"Oh, I see. That makes more sense now." Scarlet gave pause for a second, apparently turning something over in her head as they turned toward the building that housed the Director's office and the briefing room, among other things. "Wait, so, 'Loveless'…"

Diana stiffened for a second, just waiting out the moments until the other woman would make the connection.

"…Isn't there a Devon Loveless? Rooming with…oh, who's the roommate, I can't remember. I just filed the charts a couple days ago…" she tapped her chin, her brow wrinkling.

"Yeah, that's him. The roommate's Strife, Cloud Strife."

"Ah!" She snapped her fingers. "That's right. Oh, Cloud, isn't he the one who's with Tifa Lockhart?" her voice dropped, somewhat conspiratorially.

_Oh, into our gossip, too, are we? _"That's right. I'm friends with Tifa, I've been staying with her most of my time here…"

"Visiting the city? That's so cool," Scarlet gushed, apparently without desire to inquire further (thank Gaia). Suddenly she gasped quietly with the air of a sudden realization, and she grinned mischievously at Diana.

"_Diana Loveless_."

"Er…yes?" Diana raised an eyebrow, a bit weirded out.

"You're with _Zack Fair_!" she squealed, giving a little hop when Diana's startled expression gave her away and confirmed the hypothesis.

"Uh…yes."

"I _knew _I should know that name – I was on the phone with my friend just the other day, and we were talking about some of the SOLDIERs and who's been hooking up with who, and— oh, here we are." The two stopped walking in front of the doors to the building, Diana apparently refusing to go any further. It was just too risky, especially with Scarlet and her natural aura of drawing attention.

"Hey, so, I'll see you later!" Diana tried to close off the conversation while making in clear that she wanted to talk to Scarlet again. Who knew? Maybe she would be a valuable outlet for random information. Not that she was using the other woman or anything, just that she found that she didn't mind her all that much, though clearly not quite enough to be _friends _friends.

"Oh, totally! I'll find you, or talk to you, or something! 'Kay? See you around!" Scarlet waved perkily before strutting in through the double doors.

Diana blinked and turned back to face an empty courtyard. _Huh. We can be…acquaintances. Yeah. That doesn't sound too bad…_

**-Wednesday, 17 July-**

"Okay, so totally random, but isn't that guy just adorable?" Scarlet cocked her head to the side. Diana glanced over surreptitiously to find the object of her attention.

The two were in a coffee shop in Sector Two just outside the Shinra 'campus', where a few of Diana's fellow SOLDIERs had already turned up. Diana sucked on her straw, the large iced coffee with an extra shot of espresso (and lots of caramel) half gone.

The subject in question was a certain Third Class. A roommate of Diana's. With dark longish hair and dark eyes, and a healthy tan.

She had to admit, Shane was pretty attractive. If you ignored the fact that he and his auburn-haired accomplice were shooting straw wrappers at each other while they waited for their orders, it was even easier to see.

"Suppose so. It's kinda funny 'cause they know me and all," she chuckled. "Because of Devon. Wait for them to look and I'll introduce you."

"Are you kidding? They're guys, they aren't going to notice anyone around once coffee enters the picture," Scarlet scoffed.

"Don't worry. They'll hear me." Diana calmly swirled her drink. "Just wait a minute, and if I keep talking, even louder, and I make it sounds _important_, like something about _his roommates _and _cool guys _and, you know, most of them are just really into _sports cars _and _materia to have fun with_…"

"Whazzap!" Max fairly yelled, running over to slap Diana a high five. She glanced at Scarlet, eyebrows raised expectantly, who giggled.

"Not much. Just, you know, talking about you." She made a face at her friends.

"We're flattered," Shane made a face back, jabbing her in the shoulder with the hand that wasn't clutching his black coffee, when she stuck her tongue out in response.

Max, meanwhile, had taken notice of Scarlet. _Oh, hell_, Diana thought warily. "Who's this? Care to perform introductions, my dear?" he looked at Diana, who rolled her eyes. She complied and both males' eyes widened infinitesimally when she confirmed the name of the other woman.

"We gotta get going, Zack said he and Cloud wanted us back ASAP for something. Dunno what, but maybe Dev'll be there, too. Hope they don't just whoop our asses and be done with it…" Max grinned jokingly.

"Well then, move it, SOLDIERs!" Diana barked. "Are you Thirds or not? Go get your asses whooped if that's what it takes!"

"Goddess, you sound too much like Zack," Shane complained, looking rather pitiful at the thought of being ganged up on by the three of his other friends.

"See you guys later."

"Bye Di, bye Scarlet!"

"See ya!"

Scarlet turned to Diana, smiling. "They're pretty cool. …And cute. Definitely cute."

Diana laughed. "I just enjoy making fun of them. It's a mutual form of entertainment."

"…So they claim you sound like Zack?"

"Of course. They're convinced we hang out too much and we're "becoming double the menace to society as we know it"," she air quoted, shaking her head.

Scarlet giggled. "How long have you two been going out?"

That made her think. "Well…if you count from the first date on, then, like…a little under a month?" she estimated. _Holy crap. Seriously?_

"That's so cute… Well, at least it started after the rebound phase." Scarlet said satisfactorily.

Diana blinked in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"Didn't you know, he was on the rebound for, like, months after he dumped some girl? Apparently they both got hit pretty hard and he got over it just before you two went and happened, if my sources are correct." She nodded sagely.

"I – oh… No, I didn't know that…" she said in a smaller voice than she'd either intended or expected. "Who was it that he broke up with?"

Scarlet shrugged nonchalantly. "No clue. None of us could ever keep them all straight; he bounced around all the time so much. I guess that's done now, though, now that you've come along…!"

"Yeah – I suppose so –" Diana said absently, turning things over and over in her mind, attempting to wring out the confusion like water from a sponge.

Problem was, the sponge was too absorbent for its own good.

**-Thursday, 18 July-**

Diana slashed another one of the black bats out of the air with a yell. "_Three_!"

"I'm on five – _six_!" Cloud yelled back.

"_What?_ No roommate of mine shall surpass me! I _refuse_—!" she kicked a crate over by mistake, incidentally half squashing the monster as she stabbed it just to be sure. Turning fast, she spun a kick into the flying object that was very much identified and it shrieked in protest, flapping madly with only a wing and a half left. "Double hit! That's five!"

"Where do they keep – yah! – coming from?"

"I have no idea!" She hissed briefly as a raptor-like claw raked her arm. "There are a lot more wherever they're coming from, though! Seven!"

A moment later, Cloud swore and spoke again as he fought. "No wonder there were three separate calls in from this area! Think how much ground these things could cover in groups!" The two were in an abandoned warehouse in Sector Three, assigned on a mission to eliminate the monster nest of black bats there. Now, the idea of a bat that was black seemed pretty harmless, right? So why would they send two Third Classes to get rid of even a warehouse full of them?

Well. That was before one factored in the fact that these bats were about a foot long, with a four foot wingspan give or take. Not to mention the fangs, and claws worthy of a bird of prey. And that those fangs were partial to blood.

_Should've named 'em flying vampire demons on steroids,_ Diana thought fiercely as she wished Cloud had had some of his materia on him. A good Lightning spell looked like it would do the trick, but sadly, the two young adults had thought they would be fine on their own, without materia. Not so.

"Oh crap Cloud _look out_—!" All their crashing and slashing around had caused an old, very heavy-duty pulley mechanism to swing free, smashing into one of the thick wooden rafters. Soon to become a floor-to-ceiling decorative art piece, if that pulley was doing its job right.

It was.

The bats were shrieking, sometimes at frequencies that were just low enough for the mako-enhanced ears of the two humans to be able to hear…and be extremely irritated by. Several dozen of the monsters were flying around madly, most not even aware of the fact that their disturbers were engaging in battle with their kin.

Diana covered her head with one hand, squinting at the dust clouding her vision. Absently, she thought that there were a couple good things about going on monster extermination missions: it was really good for venting emotions; and you were killing monsters, not people, in the process.

"Ahaaa! Idea!" she screamed over the noise, glad for a second that she didn't have to strain her voice to keep it deep when it was only Cloud around.

Leaping to the top of a precarious stack of crates along the side of the warehouse and praying they would hold her weight, she ran down a line of the things, sword raised high in the air and hacking at every support beam she came across.

Dust was everywhere, and birdlike screams rent the air. Diana could hardly see where she was going anymore, but that also meant neither could the monsters.

Looking for Cloud's shock of bright blonde spikes, she found him and was pleased to see that he had caught on. Taking advantage of the monsters' confusion, he was running through bunches of them, waving anything sharp in every direction. She jumped down and landed a bit awkwardly, then joined him.

In a few minutes' time, the warehouse was quiet again and the dust had settled.

"Well." Diana exhaled loudly, tugging off her gloves to wipe at her forehead. "Guess that was more than we bargained for."

Cloud laughed shortly, sounding slightly insane. "Yeah. Yeah, you could say that. Definitely…"

The two exited the warehouse after doing a last sweep to make sure all the monsters were in fact dead. A few were already disintegrating into misty green light. Going back to the Lifestream…

Straightforward mission were really good for clearing out one's thoughts. Diana had some that she was still mulling over.

Zack.

What was up with him?

He hadn't been acting off, it was just…she felt like she was scrutinizing his behavior anyway. Since she had begun talking to Scarlet – who wasn't all that bad, actually she was rather nice – she had gained a good amount of knowledge in the gossip department, apparently something the young woman specialized in. Most of said rumors and stories, oddly enough, had something or other to do with Diana's boyfriend. Interesting.

From what she could tell, Zack had quite the record going for him. He always seemed to be caught in one place or situation or another…with one girl or another. At least, that was what the rumor mill said. Sometime rumors did spring from truth, however. Sometimes. Certain types.

Diana had heard nothing – and neither had Scarlet – about his little escapades since she had met him, but that didn't mean all too much, even considering the impressive proficiency of communication between the female staff members.

She had plenty to think about. And analyze. And everything in between, complete with headaches. Then again, thank Gaia she didn't have cramps to deal with on top of everything else. Her menstrual cycle was apparently freaking out, along with most of her regular systems, in response to the aftermath of a mako treatment. Aerith had told Diana that everything should be calming down within just a few days now; something Diana was looking forward to.

But in regards to the other aspects of her life…what was up?

**-Saturday, 20 July; 1250 hours-**

Diana, or rather, Devon, inched around a corner, keeping a sharp eye and planning one step ahead of where she was moving. Her sensitive ears picked up movement to the left, a few rows over. The entire large room was a maze of walls and stacks of boxes, and she reached back around the corner she had just come from to cock the heavy gun that she was bracing against her right arm. The snapping crack echoed loudly, but bounced in a deceiving way behind her, thus not giving away her exact position.

Then running footsteps, and she knew by the sound of the footfalls and breathing that Target Two was nearing. _Come out and play_, she thought to herself as the footsteps stopped abruptly just a few yards before the opening into her corridor. Her position was exposed to pretty much every direction, as she was standing in the middle of a row running crossways, but she could hear anyone coming. There was a distant triumphant shout, and two guns fired several times, followed by dulled thuds and a yelp.

She leaned back against the crate next to her, making no noise and waiting for the very slight shift, just the right sound, that would signal that it was an opportune moment for her to attack.

An unusually heavy breath.

The slip of fabric and leather. He was rummaging for something.

And an abrupt scuff on the floor, in her direction, and a faint, badly concealed glow.

So with that, she shot upwards a good ten feet to land on top of said crate. She had barely landed when her feet pushed off again to avoid the spell that had been shot at her and fired downward where her opponent had just turned his face up to her, gun half raised in surprise.

_Blam_.

"Aagh!" He was knocked backwards a couple feet, but managed to keep his footing. Trying to shoot back at her as she leapt overhead, he swore as his gun failed to load. "Ah, shoot—Dev, this thing keeps jamming! No fair!" He flicked a stray fleck of yellow paint off his cheek, oddly similar to the color of his hair.

"You were the one about to start cheating with materia!" she complained back, taking up a stance on top of the next crate. "Talk about fair—everyone knows you can't go and use _materia _in _paintball_!"

"Touché," he muttered.

Diana suddenly took notice of a new figure creeping toward the scene. She dropped flat in an attempt to conceal herself from any ground-borne opponents, and heard whoever it was speed up, running toward Cloud from behind. Those steps…that breath…it was Zack. Inching to the edge, being thankful she didn't have giant spikes like Cloud's to give her away, she caught sight of Zack's own hair.

She almost sniggered in anticipation, and disengaged her arm from her paintball gun with as little noise as possible. He wasn't even thinking to look up…how odd for him to miss that. _Okay, okay, now don't get cocky. Wait for it…now!_

He was ten feet below her and twenty-five feet to her right, moving left fast. She dropped. He yelled and tried to throw her off as she knocked him to the ground. They rolled down the makeshift alleyway, wrestling to get on top. (No, Diana did not realize how shifty this would sound in a retelling until later.) Zack won the contest, being heavier and having more mass in general, and flipped over hard intentionally, flinging her off him.

She literally flew for twenty or so feet, until she met a solid upright surface, which she landed on in a crouch, defying gravity. She pushed off hard again and shot toward him, and he dropped his gun as well, Cloud having run off to look for the rest of the group, presumably to try his luck there.

This was essentially a training exercise minus the pressure. It had been Shane's idea to go paintballing, but seeing as how it wasn't their official day off, the five had had to pull some strings with Angeal to convince Lazard that it was conducive to their continuing training as fairly new SOLDIERs. They had decided beforehand that the paintball guns would obviously be the only weapons, so as not to freak out the general public, but why not go in on hand-to-hand if circumstances called for it?

So that was why Zack had been ready for 'Devon' to lose the gun. He knew his friend usually preferred swords or his fists anyway, and never heavy-duty equipment if he could at all help it.

Diana flew at Zack, but instead of trying to take him down again, her plan was to use him as leverage to get back up on top of the crates, mostly for the purpose of getting her gun back. Somehow, though, he anticipated this and grabbed her ankle, throwing her off balance and sending her in the wrong direction, but up nevertheless. So she just rolled and spun, taking off in a leap in the direction of where she could see her gun lying. But Zack had somehow gotten a hold of his own gun again, and shot a hard blue splat at her as she soared overhead, knocking her to the side in midair.

She still grabbed her gun, and tried to shoot as his back as he ran away, cackling madly in triumph.

"Damn First!" she roared. "Get your lazy hide back here—!"

He just laughed and _frolicked _away from her, at least until a particularly well-aimed shot of Diana's clipped his backside, and he yelped in protest, fidgeting awkwardly as he ran. Diana couldn't take it anymore, no matter how confused she was about the guy; she collapsed laughing. Once she had recovered somewhat, she stood up again, wiping her eyes. "Hoo, Goddess…okay."

A series of blams and splats from the ground to her left and out of sight drew her attention. Max and Shane, for sure…

Cloud pounded into view, yelling madly as Zack pursued him back toward Diana, and firing random shots behind him. She cocked her head in confusion. She had been sure she had heard her other two roommates… Oh. Oh, Gaia. Oh.

Shane came along first, and as he was looking in a general upwards direction, Diana chose to drop down the side of her crate. Peering around the corner, she very nearly collapsed in hysterics again.

Her dark-haired friend was doing this extremely strange prancing-chocobo-dance-type-thing as he pelted down the long corridor, Max in hot pursuit. Oddly (what a novel word around these two) enough, though, Max was not in fact firing at his friend's protective vest that had the little targets marked on it. He seemed to be aiming, instead, at his feet, as if only to annoy and torment him.

Either way, it looked freaking hilarious.

It only got better when Max screamed, "DANCE, BITCH!" in victory.

It was all too much for Diana, and she slammed into the wall, laughing uncontrollably. She unsteadily raised her gun and nailed Max smack in the center of his back. He tripped, yelling, and faceplanted on the floor before whirling in indignation. Shane seemed not to notice, and continued to pelt off. As Diana's laughs gave her away, she attempted to raise her hands in surrender.

Cloud suddenly popped up in front of her. "_You are surrounded. Surrender to_…uh…"

"King of the chocobos?" Zack suggested innocently, stepping out of a shadow.

"Yeah! …_Hey_!"

Something bleeped loudly, and Max whined in complaint. "Over already? Really, sessions need to be longer than an hour here…"

**-1400 hours-**

"Hey guys, good news and bad news and they come together," Zack sighed, stepping into the Thirds' dorm.

"…You got dumped but you seriously scored beforehand?" Max suggested.

"_Maximilian_! " 'Devon' screeched.

"Right, right, sorry," he raised his hands, grinning in mischief.

She sank down on the couch, muttering darkly.

"Er, well, I got a mission assignment and they want two of you guys with me, but they were specific on who," Zack jumped in again hurriedly. Maybe it was her imagination, but Diana thought his cheeks colored slightly at the other boy's comment.

"That's kinda weird. Who'd they want?" Cloud cocked his head to the side, spikes bobbling.

"…Dev and Shane."

Diana blinked. _Ooookay, slightly odd… Aren't they supposed to, like trust his judgment as to who to take or something?_

As if reading her thoughts, Zack continued. "A couple of guys are analyzing the newer Thirds while they're on active duty and in the field, or something, and I guess they're just working through you guys systematically." He shifted uncomfortably, almost like he knew why the two of them specifically were being singled out, but Diana appeared to be the only one to form this inference. "And…we leave this afternoon."

**A/N: Duhn-duhn-duhn-duuuuuuhhn! What shall happen? Better question: what shall happen with just about everything? Lots of different little themes and problems going on here. So I hope you liked it, personally I rather appreciated the paintballing thing, and thanks so much for reading! Review too please :) And go make yourself some bacon cookies ^^**


	28. Details Make All The Difference

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: All credit goes to either FFVII or a little sequence from the amazing TV show Supernatural… see if you can figure out which part it is :)**

**A/N: Wow, seven reviews I think on the last chapter? Yay! And some new reviewers! *hops around room excitedly* So I'm thinking we're getting some definite ominous/b!tchy vibes here in Diana's life. This is gonna be interesting... This chapter is basically a straight continuation from the last one, and I would have lumped it all together would it not have been like 15,000 words, all said. For now, onward with the review replies!**

**DarkAssassin: YES, all hail. Cloud is the _sexy_ king of the chocobos. Hahaha thanks for reading!**

**Sayonara: Glad I relieved the stress of a bad day :) I had one of those, as you may have figured out. I was going for the ridiculous humor, and besides, I'm going paintballing for the first time ever in two weeks with my church group. It's going to be such a party. I was like, okay, guys, you've experienced my ninja skills...now add a gun to that... It shall be awesome. So thanks for tuning in to the wonderful insanity!**

**Shadow: Yupppp I was goin' for that! UltimateFreedom should claim all rights to that little idea. She was like dude they should go paintballing...because WE will be soon. I was like YES pure genius! Waaaay too much fun. Haha I shall keep on keeping on and you can keep on encouraging me :)**

**Shatter: Exactly! Do I detect a 'bad guy...er...girl...' vibe here? I think yes. Ohh but the thing is, for once Diana is completely oblivious to that possibility. Guys she understands. Other girls, not so much. Call it a character flaw. Every good heroine's gotta have a phase where you just want to smack her upside the head asking what she's doing. And yeah paintballing! I'm going soon for the first time. It'll be a total blast. Yay, someone who appreciates the idea of bacon cookies :D Oh hey thanks. Cake=my love :)**

**LoveTheCrazy: Awww hahaha well if you think so. And yeah, totally. A lot better. Thanks for reading and reviewing then! :) enjoy this one.**

**Sarah: NEW REVIEWER! *happy dance* I'm so glad you decided to catch up on the entire thing! People who are only picking up on the story now are coming in, and it makes me happy that I'm still gaining interest. Thanks, and enjoy the chapter! :)**

**Angeli: ANOTHER NEW REVIEWER! (I got so happy I now have lost the ability to type right!) Hahaha well I'm glad you were willing to take the time to catch up on all, like, over 100,000 words...I really never expected this story to be soooo long, seeing as how my first was about 5,000 and my second like 30,000. But I'm really in love with my ideas so I'm not getting bored with it at all. And thanks! I was actually really wondering about my balancing-out of the different elements, just because there is SO much going on, you know? It gets a tad confusing, even to me, but I'm glad you seem to enjoy it so much! Read on my friend! :)**

**My musical inspiration for this chapter: Me Against The World by Simple Plan. Listen if you so desire :) Read on, enjoy, and review please! :D**

**Chapter 28: Details Make All The Difference**

**-The same day, 1400 hours-**

"Hey guys, good news and bad news and they come together," Zack sighed, stepping into the Thirds' dorm.

"…You got dumped but you seriously scored beforehand?" Max suggested.

"_Maximilian!_ " 'Devon' screeched.

"Right, right, sorry," he raised his hands, grinning in mischief.

She sank down on the couch, muttering darkly.

"Er, well, I got a mission assignment and they want two of you guys with me, but they were specific on who," Zack jumped in again hurriedly. Maybe it was her imagination, but Diana thought his cheeks had colored slightly at the other boy's comment.

"That's kinda weird. Who'd they want?" Cloud cocked his head to the side, spikes bobbling.

"…Dev and Shane."

Diana blinked. _Ooookay, slightly odd… Aren't they supposed to, like trust his judgment as to who to take or something? He is a First, after all._

As if reading her thoughts, Zack continued. "A couple of guys are analyzing the newer Thirds while they're on active duty and in the field, or something, and I guess they're just working through you guys systematically." He shifted uncomfortably, almost like he knew why the two of them specifically were being singled out, but Diana appeared to be the only one to infer this. "And…we leave this afternoon."

**-1600 hours-**

"Oh, how lovely. A couple of guys in suits, armed with clipboards. This should be fun," Diana muttered to Shane as they crossed the helicopter tarmac. "So we don't get _any _specifics until we're under way?" she asked Zack, somewhat incredulously. There had been no meeting in the schmancy briefing room, no nothing. Just orders to pack light for a few days' trip and to be on the tarmac to meet Commander Fair at 1600 hours.

"Pretty much," Zack murmured as they neared the guys by the helicopter, fixing the belt on his black uniform. "I don't know much more than you do at this point, actually…"

The two clipboard guys just nodded at them and indicated that they get into the helicopter, which was starting up. Zack leaned into the cockpit area to see the pilot once he was inside, and let out a crow of happiness. "Hey, Reno! Back to the copters, I see."

"Yeah, finally, yo. Was gettin' bored," the redhead complained.

Shane glanced at the two silent men. "So now can you tell us what's going on?" He got silence. "Great. We're being kidnapped by the dudes in suits who are gonna shank us with the clipboards at any moment," he muttered, so that only Zack's and Diana's ears could discern the words. They both sniggered impulsively before regaining their composure.

The rotor blades chopped faster as the doors slid shut, and they took off.

After a few minutes of looking out the window and determining their course – east – Zack turned to the two unidentified men sternly. "Okay, as your superior, I'd like to know the specifics of this mission, please." Diana blinked at Zack. "They're just auditors," he explained so that only she could hear him. "Don't hold any more real authority than a Third…oh, you know what I mean," he scoffed at her miffed expression.

One of them handed him a few documents, which he scanned efficiently. "Don't talk much, do ya?" he muttered dourly. Looking up, he addressed his friends, obviously intent on excluding the two sour-faced ones. "'Kay, so, we're going to the grasslands, off way past the Chocobo Farm. Apparently there are the beginnings of a Wutaian base set up there. Guess they're trying to come from the other direction – trying a new approach. We're supposed to blow them up, whatever—looks like we pretty much have free reign of our methods. Just scare the shit out of them, mostly; 'deter them in their efforts' and all that."

Diana nodded slowly. Okay. Straightforward enough. "That still doesn't explain why me and Shane got picked specifically. I'll trust you to answer that." She swiveled to face the two silent, nameless men, commanding them with her eyes to give her answers.

The one who had given Zack the papers spoke up first. "We are analyzing the progress of the newer Third Classes; sending them on group missions with a higher-ranking SOLDIER for supervision. Shinra likes to stay on top of its employees' advancements, particularly those of our SOLDIERs. After all, if you do intend on moving up in the ranks someday," he turned his nose up slightly in a snobby manner, "We must be aware of your achievements, strengths…and weaknesses."

"…I see," she commented frostily. What a great way to be analyzed. No pressure, nope, not at all. She hadn't been planning on having to over-prove herself for two strangers armed with damned clipboards of doom, she thought grumpily.

"The idea is for the SOLDIERs in question to act as they would normally on any other mission," said the second one. "Forget that we're here at all with our…clipboards." He seemed to have a slightly better sense of humor than the first one. Which didn't say much, but it was something. Zack expressed some mild interest, and the auditor offered forward the board with a formidable stack of documents clamped onto it.

"We're not authorized to show them," the first one snapped at the second, who looked like he had just remembered himself. Maybe he was new? "Just…put it away," continued the apparent snob of the group.

Diana was sorely tempted to suggest where he could shove his own damn clipboard instead, but concluded that that probably wouldn't look fantastic on her record. Quite literally. _Eh, it'll all go to hell eventually, I guess. When they all find out. But I think I'd rather keep my job for now… _she thought, giving a mental shrug.

* * *

The helicopter had landed some hours later, in the middle of nowhere in the grasslands, as promised. Diana couldn't help but notice the smooth landing that seemed uncharacteristic of Reno as the pilot. _At least it wasn't Cid this time…_ She remembered that little fiasco fondly. It seemed like forever ago, although it couldn't have even been too long over a month. Make that almost two months…now that was just unbelievable.

There were some sparse woodlands nearer to the coast, and that was supposedly where the target enemy camp was being set up. A good distance away, the SOLDIERs and their babysitters had pitched their own tents. (Diana had been hoping for the end spot next to Shane in the tent full of three SOLDIERs, but Zack oh-so-graciously offered to take the middle, seeing as how it didn't really matter due to the fact that they all kicked in their sleep.)

So on their first evening there, Diana decided to go climb a tree and just sit and space out. She maintained that it was good for her brain, and was a bit tired from the sharp transition into the trip but wouldn't sleep yet. Finding a suitable climbing tree wasn't too hard, seeing as how her mako-infused body could make just about anything work.

She was sitting on a thick limb, one leg dangling down, her back against the trunk, when she heard voices. Thinking immediately of enemy soldiers, she stood up fast and her hand went to the pocket where her small emergency weapons were hidden. A long moment later (for she had detected the men long before they were within sight) two men in suits emerged from the trees. She rolled her eyes and leaned back against the trunk, but stayed on her feet. It turned out that she was too curious for her own good.

"…dangerous? How are we supposed to—"

"All we must do is observe and—"

"—But what I'm saying is, how are we supposed to 'observe' and whatever while they're in the middle of a deathmatch?"

"There are ways to see but not be seen. I have been through this before, you will see how it works."

Diana rolled her eyes. _Yeah, how many near-misses have there been so far, I wonder, when one of those being 'observed' mistook you for an enemy in hiding? Sounds freaking brilliant to me. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to lose a limb eventually…_

"So. Have you formed any first impressions of the Third Classes?" the uppity one inquired. They were still refusing to offer any identification. Heck, they even looked generic! Maybe that was the idea. Shinra was smart, after all.

"Gee, I don't know. Hard to see, but…" the younger, newer one scratched the back of his head. "Their self-confidence doesn't seem to have a problem. That's good, right? Well, unless they get cocky. But I don't think that's it." He paused at the look on his superior's face. "Why, what were your thoughts on the matter?"

"…I was simply considering the difficulty of the SOLDIER exams these days."

It took a second for the younger investigator to catch on, but Diana instantly bristled with indignation. _How _dare _he insinuate that—that we—that I—_

"Oh, come on, they can't be as nonlethal as they seem," the man scoffed.

His superior fixed him with a look. "Yet often that can be just the case. The ridiculous dark one holds slightly more potential. He looks like he might actually have some muscle mass on him. However, there is the small one to consider."

_I've got half a mind to come down there and show you just how small and harmless I am—!_

"Well, yeah, so he's kinda skinny and all, but you really think that…?"

"I am not sure. I can only hope that all three SOLDIERs return to Midgar."

"No, but, really!" he protested. "What could possibly happen to the kid in a fight? He can't be much younger than me, and he's good friends with the other two. They look out for each other, right? Isn't that what SOLDIERs do?"

"…The boy could create a disaster without too much effort, I am sure," the uppity one said dryly. "As of now, he is simply a pawn in the game. I fear he could be turned around and become a victim far too easily. Too many end up exactly the same as this boy."

_Yeah, you just wanna see me fail, and fall. Shows how much you know…_

"But do you really want to judge that he's a lost cause this early on—?"

"If that is how I feel, then yes, I will judge him. This could become a nightmare for everyone, so perhaps we should…encourage…the First Class to…well, you know," he finished hastily.

The younger man was trying to conceal his distaste by this point, and only nodded stiffly.

_Good luck trying to get the rest of us to agree with you, there. I'll never think like you do… Just you wait… Who says I can't be a—_

"Heroes are clearly strong from the beginning," the other man was stating. "They…"

Diana didn't let him get any further. She simply dropped from the tree to land only a few yards away from the two 'evaluators', treating the obnoxiously judgmental one to a venomous glare as the two nearly jumped out of their skin, the younger one about to go for his gun.

"That's what they always say," she stated coldly, and stalked away into the tree cover before sprinting off in near silence.

Running fast always helped her vent, so by the time she reached their camp, her hair windblown and her cheeks flushed slightly, she didn't feel so much like pounding someone's head in.

Shane looked up in alarm from where he had been adding an armful of logs onto a pile. "What's up?" he asked warily.

"Nothing," she growled. Notice that she didn't feel _so much _like pounding someone's head in. "_Rip his damn lungs out through the nose and feed them to an angry hellhound_…" she muttered darkly, sweeping into the tent and crashing on her air mattress grumpily.

Shane chose not to point out that that was probably not anatomically possible, and went back to stoking the woodpile.

Diana woke up in grumpy discomfort at 0700 hours the next morning, lying on her back. Something large and lumpy was flung over her that she found unpleasantly reminiscent of a huge, snoring dog.

She growled and tried to wriggle out from under it, but it was _everywhere_. She tried to work an arm free to whack at it, but only succeeded in squirming around awkwardly, making the lump move only very slightly. Exhaling with some difficulty—for she now realized her breathing was a bit restricted—she managed to pry an eye open.

It took a moment of staring around, not sure what she was even looking at, for things to become clear.

She was lying upside down to the direction she had fallen asleep in, on the opposite side of the small tent. Something was tickling her feet, which she judged by the other pair of feet near her head to be Shane's hair. At least he had stayed the right direction.

The mysterious lump was none other than the great Zack Fair.

He was sprawled on his back, nearly crushing both his companions. Although apparently Shane hadn't noticed yet, as he would be making quite a scene by now.

Diana rolled her eyes and tried to shift slightly again without kicking Shane in the head. Zack mumbled in his sleep, flopping an arm over Diana's face. She sputtered and fought her way out from under it, hissing at him.

"Zack."

"Mmm. Mmmmm?"

She had to admit—boyfriend or not, awkward relationship-related doubts or not—he was a cute, if annoying, sleeper. He wrinkled his nose and coughed slightly before mumbling and wriggling like a puppy to be more comfortable on top of his 'mattress.'

"Zack!"

"Mmmehh… Dnnnnuhhh…?"

"What the hell?" she muttered. "Zack!"

"Hummm nom nommm…"

"_Zachary!_"

"WhuDOUGHNUTS!" he jerked awake finally, but seemed to be rather unaware of his surroundings. He looked around with blind eyes for a few seconds, then went completely limp and started muttering all over again.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding—_Zachary Fair!_"

She arched her back and tried to throw him off her with what she found to be blood-deprived limbs, and that woke him up for real.

"WHA! WHOZZERE? WHA—" He looked around in confusion. "Huh? AGH!" He spasmed violently, and Diana flipped onto her side to try to scramble out of the mess of flailing limbs but was slammed down onto her stomach with the wind half knocked out of her instead by Zack falling back down.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT'S HOLY—" Yup, Shane was awake. And if what Diana could see was right, he had gotten the, shall we say, less enjoyable end of Zack. If the less heavy half.

"GET OFFA ME, YA LUMP OF—" Diana hacked, gasping for air.

Shane decided to do the honors and threw Zack off the both of them, sending him rolling into the space that Diana had occupied at the beginning of the night.

"Ow…" Diana groaned.

"Wha's happ'ning?" Zack demanded groggily.

**-About an hour later-**

"So we just run in there and raise hell?" Shane whispered. Awkward sleeping arrangements aside, the three were lying flat at the crest of a hill, the Wutaian camp in sight. The sun was rising from behind them, giving them some cover via sun-induced blindness.

"Basically. We gotta really scare them off."

"Please tell me this isn't turning into a massacre," Diana said warily. She saw one of their 'babysitters' shift slightly from where they were hiding as well, damned clipboards in hand. "Unnecessary slaughter doesn't seem to be the answer. What?" she snapped at the snobby auditor, who was looking at her with some degree of disdain. "You think all soldiers are mindless killing machines with no moral code or ethics? That's a monster. Not a human. And, news flash: SOLDIERs are only humans." He looked startled, then his eyebrows drew together and he scribbled away furiously.

Diana looked at her two friends. Zack was giving her the 'don't-piss-the-assessor-off' look. "Hey, it's true! Anyways, I heard those two talking last night. _That _one doesn't think I deserve to be here," she snarled quietly. "I'm going to have to show him."

Shane blinked rapidly. "He said that?"

"I was hiding in a tree. Call it unintentional eavesdropping. They walked right past me!" she protested. "But anyway, what's the answer?" She looked at Zack.

"…Our main concern should be to attack the supplies. If they don't have weaponry, or basic necessities, they can't stay here for long. The theory is that we're showing them who's boss," he replied after a second. "There will be guards, just…do what you have to."

She nodded, facing forward again. "Right."

"Just one question," Shane piped up. "How are we getting in there in the first place?"

Zack thought a few seconds. "Well, ideas, guys? This is, after all, your party."

Another few seconds passed, during which Diana was visited by a more-than-slightly hysterical thought. "So I say Shane dresses in drag…and when—"

"Whoa! Dude! Not cool! No way!" her friend panicked, looking fairly horrified. "_You're _the one with the identical female twin!"

She blew a piece of hair out of her face exasperatedly. "Yeah, but _they _don't know that, do they? Whatever. That aside, what if…"

A few minutes later, she was full-on charging one side of the camp that looked to be a promising location for a supplies tent. Whirling her sword above her head, sprinting through the tree cover with SOLDIER speed, and yelling at the top of her lungs, she figured she was pretty likely to make everyone freeze in their tracks for a second or a few and reconsider their tactics.

She rather liked her sword. A little while ago, Zack had realized that as new Thirds and SOLDIERs, his friends needed to get their own swords. Angeal had been kind enough to help them out. Diana had picked one not too wide, but not skinny like a katana, that was fairly long but not enough so that it would get in the way. It carried a steely blue tinge in the right light, and was straight and double-edged and looked subtly dangerous. The hilt was plain but sturdy black leather that fit her hand nicely, and she gripped it hard as she yelled in her unorthodox charge.

She was the diversion.

She had volunteered quite willingly, saying that for all her tendencies to be overlooked or unnoticed, she could raise quite an uproar if needed.

She had been right.

Someone was sounding the alarm, but she was already fumbling for the fire materia in her left pocket, pushing until it appeared to dissolve and fused itself into her left forearm. It took a few seconds, but she fired up (no pun intended) a decent spell that she shot into the center of the camp, causing widespread panic and confusion.

She heard more yelling and saw Shane in all his fighting glory pelting into the camp from a ways off to her left, Zack close behind. Shane evidently had quite the gift for materia, and was shooting off two spells in the time it took Diana to conjure up one. So she resorted to playing to her real strength.

Her sword.

She was a blur. A lethal blur that let nothing escape her notice.

A few enemies ran out, armed with long curved swords, to try to deter her. She dispatched them with minimal difficulty, considering some of the situations she had found herself in before. She was starting to recognize the fighting style and methods that these soldiers carried, after experiencing it up close and personal during the attack on HQ back in late June. That taught like no textbook with fancy terms ever could.

She was surrounded and had to break free of the circle, and quickly, in order to carry out her part of the mission. She was supposed to find the leader here, and with any luck, steal some vital concrete information. Finally she spotted what she was looking for. The only problem was getting there. Glancing to her right, she saw Shane on his own amidst a ring of materia-induced flames, keeping most everyone with a brain at bay. Hm. She got one of her ideas, and began yelling as she slashed left and right, parrying off multiple simultaneous attacks. If she hadn't had the mako enhancements…she would be in pretty bad shape by now.

"Azarius!" she shouted, using her friend's surname. "Helicopter five forty!" she barked. Her opponents looked fairly unsettled at the language, and a few a bit farther off scanned the sky furtively in confusion.

She saw his face dawn in recognition as he blasted off another fire spell, and he yelled back: "Marked!" He understood and was ready.

"Execute!"

With that, she gave a final sweeping swing, and leapt straight up and over, straight at Shane but making it over the wall of flames with her unreal strength. As she neared him, he turned to her and they grasped each other's left forearms. He used her momentum to swing her in a circle one and a half times around. She kept her wits about her and trusted him to sling her in the right direction. Five hundred and forty degrees around later, he released her in one graceful, fluid motion, and she was flying again, almost too fast to track.

She locked onto her targets and slammed in right where she had intended. The two bodyguards flew a good eight yards and fell to the ground, unconscious from the sheer shock of the impact. She rolled into a crouch, her sword out in front of her in one hand, and regarded the man in front of her who had frozen temporarily and looked absolutely terrified.

"Look. I'm a logical person. I don't want to have to kill any more people," she stated clearly, trusting that an aristocratic feudal lord was likely to know her language.

He simply turned and tried to flee, but she was just in front of him again, both hands raised but her sword still securely in her right one. "I'm trying to be diplomatic about this! We can be perfectly reasonable. Just call your men off and we can—" She cried out suddenly, her eyes widening.

While she was speaking, she had failed to notice a soldier sneaking up on her. A stupid mistake. A slip-up. Something hardwired into her reflexes had caused her to shift slightly, so the sword that had been meant to carve out her insides had raked down her left side instead. It was still fairly deep, and a burning, needling sensation assaulted her nerves.

But her flesh wasn't all that the weapon had sliced through.

She swore loudly, yelling and spinning to face her attacker, signature move at the ready. A pivot…into a kick that slammed into the side of the soldier's head, possibly breaking his neck and sending him crashing twenty feet into the line of infantry behind him.

She spun back, grabbing at her side and scanning for the Wutaian leader frantically. There. There he was, trying to sneak into one of the bigger tents. Target located, possibly package as well. She tore after him, flying into the tent and holding him at swordpoint before he even realized he wasn't alone anymore. His hand was on a stack of important-looking documents, complete with seals and signatures.

"Call them off," she growled, in a really bad mood now. She could tell that the mako was trying to close the gash in her side, but it was messy, and her heart rate and adrenaline levels were high enough to keep her blood pumping fast, making the wound seep even more. And she was trying to keep her shirt and related garments together. The charade wouldn't end here, not now. The curtain couldn't drop yet.

He was no longer pretending not to comprehend, and shook his head vehemently. "Never," he spoke with a moderate accent. "You nor your company will not force us to leave; not now, not ever…"

"That's too bad," she said quietly, thrusting her sword into the ground and raising her left arm carefully, so as not to pull at her side where the flesh was trying to mend itself from the inside out. Her hand began to glow orange, and it was almost burning red before the man comprehended.

"Wait!" he suddenly barked out.

"What's that?" she asked, her hand still pulsing with heat and light.

His eyes flicked to a wireless transmitter on the desk he was standing next to. She realized what she had to do immediately.

"Yeah, I'll save your reputation. Not for your sake, though," she stated coldly. She yanked her sword out of the ground and stabbed it through the thick hem of the man's long, heavy robes, dangerously close to his feet, before he could blink. He suddenly looked vaguely faint at the weapon humming as it vibrated with the force, and she picked up the transmitter, pressing one end to her ear as she tried to block out the sounds of battle while keeping her wits about her.

As soon as a bleep and a static-covered foreign voice indicated that she was through, she cut off the speaker and started talking. "This isn't a Wutaian lord you're speaking to." She heard frantic, confused voices on the other end, and they probably needed someone to translate her words, as well. "This is Devon Loveless, SOLDIER Third Class, a working operative of the Shinra Company. Remember the name. It's one worth knowing. The situation on the eastern coast of the Eastern Continent has been compromised. Withdraw your forces. I trust that you will find similar scenarios occurring in the surrounding areas soon enough. We do desire a diplomatic solution." She hung up abruptly and glared at the man still standing there, stricken. "_Do it_," she snapped.

He nodded frantically, and she took her sword back, keeping it close to his back as he exited the tent, yelling orders in Wutaian at the top of his lungs.

All activity ceased almost instantly. Except for a few soldiers with guns, who aimed at Diana straight away. She had to duck and deflect a bullet or two with her blade before their leader's anxious shouts reached them. Unfortunately, she had to use both hands to grip the handle of her sword to keep it in control as bullets ricocheted off and she tried to keep the leader in check. Her half-healed side ripped open again and blood soaked through her shirt.

Diana gritted her teeth and clutched at her side as she glared around menacingly at the mass of enemies.

* * *

"Don't touch it!" she yelped.

"I just wanna—"

"Zack, really, just let me do it," she protested.

"Come on, even war heroes have to give in sometimes—"

"Shane, help…" she moaned, looking at her friend in mock despair.

"Nuh-uh, I'm on _his _side." Her dark-haired friend cocked his head at Diana's boyfriend.

"See? Okay, so what about here—"

She hissed sharply, pressing her right hand to her left side harder. Blood seeped through the frayed bandages again, soaking her fingers, and she tried not to breathe in too much of the coppery, metallic scent slightly tainted with the chemical smell of mako. She had reopened it several times, having realized too late that it was virtually impossible to a) turn while walking, b) use her left arm, c) use her sword, or d) all of the above; without tearing the partially-healed slash.

"Just give me the Cure, dammit!" Zack snapped at one of the 'inspectors,' both of whom were sitting nearby. The entire affair with the Wutaians had been cleared up, backup had been called in, and the coast was once again fully safe for the SOLDIERs.

The younger one frantically sorted through the bag that Zack had indicated, while the older made no move to help. "How did you come to be injured so?" he was asking Diana lazily.

She suppressed the urge to snarl at him, keeping her arms crossed tightly over her chest whenever possible. "I was attempting to talk some sense into the feudal lord and stop him from getting away, after taking down his bodyguards, and I left my side open. It was a lucky shot, really," she recollected. The soldier hadn't looked like he had planned the move too carefully. It had been a wild, desperate swing, in retrospect.

"I see," he said primly. What he didn't say was that she should have been more prepared, more careful, not left an opening, not abandoned caution, kept her senses open, et cetera. Yeah, she knew. She cared. Coming from this prick? Not so much.

"Zack!" she very nearly screeched as he accidentally pressed too close to the gash that ran from her ribs to her hipbone.

"Sorry, sorry! Hey, you sounded like Diana just then," Zack chuckled. "Epic voice crack."

"Who's Diana?" the younger auditor (why they hadn't given the SOLDIERs names to call them by remained a mystery to all) asked curiously, finally pulling out a Cure materia and handing it hastily to Zack, who nodded in thanks.

"My sister."

"My girlfriend."

Diana (oh, the irony) and Zack looked at each other and grudgingly acknowledged the other's simultaneous response.

"Uh… Okay?" the man said, shrugging in confusion.

"She's my twin sister—ow, get _on _with it, Zachary!—who's dating—"

"_Me_," Zack offered triumphantly, in between muttering to himself to get the Cure right.

Diana sighed in relief as the materia finally took effect. The stabbing, burning feeling receded to a hard throbbing all up and down the left side of her torso, and then refocused in on the actual location of the wound. She felt the innermost part of the slice knitting up, the flesh stretching and pulling together, then the magic moved outward, purging the area of impurities and finally closing over the surface. Diana moved her arms experimentally and the skin tugged and ached, but nothing more.

She sighed in relief. "Finally. Thanks man." Gingerly, she stood and twisted from side to side. She then experienced that lovely thing that she later dubbed Frigging Post-Cure Soreness and groaned quietly. "How come it wouldn't heal from the mako?" she inquired of Zack. She noted that their two supervisors exited the tent subtly, presumably to go to their own.

He shrugged. "Dunno. My best guess would be that you kept splitting it wide open again and again and you system got overwhelmed or confused or something."

"Hm. Guess so," she muttered. She didn't like her system doing things that she didn't understand…

"Hey, guys! Lookit this!" Shane cried gleefully, pointing to the laptop screen he had open on his knees.

"Shane, what have I told you about porn…" Diana sighed in mock disappointment.

"Hey!" he protested loudly. "Dude, no. Look, we have a fan site!"

Zack took a glance at the homepage and grunted. "Yeah, I know. I joined Angeal's months ago just to annoy him," he snickered.

"Hm… Hey! We're here! Like, _we _are _here_!" Shane pointed excitedly at a link, Diana leaning over his shoulder. She raised her eyebrows.

"I'm not sure whether to feel flattered or stalked…" she murmured, seeing their dorm number—room 192—next to the list of names. There were comments, an open fiction link, artwork…the whole nine yards. "I'd like to see Sephiroth's!" she chuckled. "Bet he just loves those dedicated fans. Fangirls are the ultimate threat."

"Hey…your sister is listed on this!" Shane laughed harder. "How awesome is that? 'Is known to hang out with some of the SOLDIERs from time to time…close friends with Tifa Lockhart (click here)…known to be in a relationship with Zack Fair (click here)'… I think this just made my life."

"Yeah, except it's a stalker's dream," she said dryly.

"Aw, come on, you can't stalk a SOLDIER—" Shane snorted. "—Oh. You're thinking of Diana. Well, hell, she may as well be one of us herself—have you _seen _your sister kick ass before? I wouldn't worry…"

Zack laughed. "True, that. Hey, what's a 'fan fiction'?"

"Looks like people write stories about us." Diana wrinkled her nose. That was slightly freakish. She wasn't sure if she'd be more disturbed by a character that acted exactly like her in real life, or a character that was meant to be like her but was possibly more…um….

"Heh, here's Di and Dev again… Hey, me and Max are actual twins here!" Shane sniggered. "'CloTi', that's a nice one. ...'Zerith'? What the hell is—"

"Aaaaagh!" Zack nearly fell backwards out of his crouch, where he was doing squats a couple feet away. "Dude, she's like my _sister_! That's just disturbing!"

"Well, this one declares that Di is an evil bitch for being with you," Shane shrugged, glancing at Diana herself. "No offense. Don't shoot the messenger."

"Eh, whatever, people will be people," she waved a hand, unaffected by some of the rather nasty comments. She knew not everyone absolutely loved everyone else. "Question: what the hell is 'Seph/Gen/Ang'? … OH, SHIT, BACK BACK BACK!"

Shane uttered what could only be described as a squeal, and went back to scrolling down the list until he found a recent entry on 'Devon.' "Huh. Okay, lessee…" He made air quotes. "'There are Dev fans, and there are Diana fans, and…' Dude, what's a slashfan?"

Zack chose that moment to speak up stiffly, stopping his squats to rest his chin on the top of the screen from the opposite side. "In this case it means… 'Devon-slash-Diana.' Together."

It took a second. Then Diana's head snapped up and her eyebrows shot up. "Like…_together _together—?"

"Yeah," Zack forced out hurriedly, looking more traumatized by the second.

Diana blinked hard. "…They know we're twins, right? As in siblings?"

"Doesn't, er, seem to matter," Zack muttered haltingly.

"Oh…oh, dude, that's… That's just sick." She snatched the laptop from Shane and quickly shut the program down.

"Eh, people are sick," Shane shrugged again.

Zack grunted in affirmation, going back to doing squats. Diana ran off to get some water, exiting the tent.

"Aw, but I wanted to see what people thought you and Di should be doing," Shane snorted sarcastically at Zack when he thought 'Devon' was gone. Of course, she could still hear them, but barely once she was outside.

"Heh. You're such a freak." Zack grinned at his friend all the same. Diana could hear it in his voice. "Speaking of, though," he continued quietly, causing Diana to pause and strain her enhanced ears. "She's been acting…off…lately."

Shane was silent for two beats. "Why do you say that? Or, why do you think she's doing it?"

"I don't pretend to understand everything about her… I know she's been through a lot, but I feel like it's _me_."

Diana's breathing stopped.

"…Think she guesses something?"

Zack sighed heavily. "No clue. I mean, I've been trying to change, I really have, and it sounds lame that it's all for her, but…"

Diana realized that they were carrying on a conversation from before—possibly while she had been eavesdropping on the auditors. But…what would she be guessing, and what was Zack trying to change? She got her answer like a hit to the face.

"You haven't cheated this time, though, have you?"

"…No."

"That's something, right?"

"I s'pose… It's just, I know I don't have the greatest track record, and it seems like I make the same promise every time…only to break it."

Diana could barely hear the words, but they made her heart stop all the same, just like her breathing.

Shane was thinking. "Well, don't worry about it for now. See how it works out, I guess. She…doesn't know about the issues you've had before now, right?"

Zack groaned. Diana could tell he was rubbing his face in his hands because his words were muffled and cleared in alternation. "No. But if she listens to the likes of Scarlet, the rumors will get around to her. I know she's not one for that kind of stuff, but… I don't want her knowing. And I'll try my hardest keeping this up."

Diana coughed to cover a little gasp, and Zack quieted instantly. She quickly took a swig of water but choked on it, and walked back into the tent trying to keep her face straight and her limbs from shaking. Pounding her chest to clear it, she blinked at her friends in false innocence. "What'd I miss?" she inquired.

"Nothing, what did you think?" Shane snorted, but sounded a little off. He never was a very good actor.

Zack just grunted and kept doing his squats.

**A/N: OH NO! Bad Puppy! What have you been keeping from Di? Our favorite people have such problems! Anyways. Diana comes through and shoots down everyone's expectations and kicks ass yet again. Of course. :D After all, it is kinda her against the world...*wink wink* Thanks so much for sticking around and reading, please leave a review! :)**


	29. Leaning Over the Edge

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: The only things I own are my own ideas and characters and the Gaia-awful situations I put them through.**

**A/N: Wow, I think this is the first chapter since, like, number nineteen that's been this short. Well, okay, not _short_, but you know. In comparison to 7,000 or whatever, yeah, this is short. It's like 4,000-something. But anyhoo, a LOT of drama/angst stuff goes on! So it should be worth it :) All I'm gonna say is: feel free to scream at the computer screen, hoping to somehow reach me here in my room O_o ...That came out a lot creepier than I had anticipated. Ahem. Anyways. . . .**

**DarkAssassin: Hahahaha, glad you enjoyed that. I did the same exact thing Diana did when I was kinda new to the fanfiction lingo, so, you know... Like, I have nothing against that or the people who write it, it just isn't quite my cup of tea, you know? Thought it would be pretty hilarious for our SOLDIER friends to encounter a fan site XD Thanks for reading and laughing at my weird humor!**

**Sarah: Thanks ^^ And...well...we shall see about all that... *ominous background music starts up* Don't kill me for this chapter :) Glad to see you're still with us. I shall, and thanks!**

**Sayonara: Yeah, those clipboards really need to be burned. (Can you burn a clipboard? 'Cause they're all funky and plastic-ized, you know? It would probably smell awful-wow, Puppy-like ADD, anyone?) Yeah, no, those two kinda did epically fail. Well, okay, so Di basically just completely shot down the nasty one, but still. And Zack...oh Zack. What are we going to do with Zack. Yeah, he sure is one heck of a ladies' man, and that's kinda his downfall...read on and you'll see what I mean! :) Thanks for the review.**

**Shatter: Ohhhh yes, Zachary does indeed have a lot of explaining to do for Diana. You will definitely see what I mean by the end of this chapter. And yes, actually, that basically is what the guy was XD Just meant to be a total ass. (With a rod up it, too.) It was funny, 'cause I got the idea for him from my Dad, who was complaining about the annoying auditors ("everyone hates auditors") visiting his office the other week. Hahaha, yeah, I thought that was a fun little addition. Those three are so scarred for life. I thought it woudl be kinda interesting for Diana to be on a mission with Zack and Shane, for a change. Like, it's always Cloud, you know? I felt like Shane needed a little bit more in the character development department. And now we know that Zack is an extremely restless and heavy sleeper! :D Oh Zachary. Poor Diana. Poor Shane-he got the less desirable end of Zack, after all, if you know what I mean. *gasps* Om nom! Yay ^^ Hahahahahaha epic win! I shall cherish this cake forever! Even once it's eaten. Thanks for the beastly cake and review! Enjoy :)**

**Ultimate: YOU SURE AS HECK HAD BETTER BE READING THIS BY NOW XD i looooove you... ^^**

**Thanks for following along, read on and with any luck at all enjoy! :)**

**Chapter 29: Leaning Too Far Over the Edge**

**-The following week-**

"You've been hanging out with _her_?" Tifa couldn't keep the disbelief out of her voice.

Diana shrugged, slightly uncomfortable. "Okay, I know her rep and all, but I nearly ran her over by accident in the lobby and I thought 'oh damn beeotch is gonna kill me' and all, but she started talking to me like I was an actual person. We were walking the same way, so first I figured I should be polite, but she's not actually all that bad!"

"Uh-huh…" Tifa said warily. "Yeah, I trust your judgment, but for me… I dunno. Like, maybe not," she carried on vaguely.

"Oh, no, I totally get that." Diana waved her hands. "Obviously we're different. People work differently." She took a good look at her friend and laughed. "Goddess, Teef, she's not my best friend or anything! Chill! I'm just saying I'm not so judgmental of her anymore. Yeah, she can still be kinda bitchy, and she judges people herself, but hey, I like for people to know and like me. It's like keeping up good foreign relations or something."

Tifa laughed at that and relented. "Yeah, I get it. I hear she's the queen of gossip, though—heard anything good?" she joked.

Diana's expression froze momentarily. "About that."

Tifa blinked. "Wait, what? Seriously? What has she told you?"

"Honestly, it's been more like me finding my own evidence…"

So she told her best friend about Zack's supposed 'record' and reputation: that which she had accidentally overheard last week on the mission.

"—And I don't know what to do about it!"

"Look, I know you're gonna hate me for this, but why don't you just confront him about it?" Tifa rubbed her temples.

"Yeah, that or…"

"… What."

"That or…end it."

Now Tifa gaped at the brunette. "Seriously?"

"If he's not going to figure himself out and do something about it, or take me seriously, then yes." Diana folded her arms stubbornly. Zack's problem was that he was just h-o-t and did he ever know it. That had apparently evolved into the unfortunate 'I-can-have-anyone-so-I'll-just-have-everyone' syndrome.

"…Well, good. Just make sure you make the decision for yourself." That was all she left her friend with to mull over.

**-Friday, 26 July-**

Diana paced restlessly back and forth across the floor next to her bed. Her head hurt… She grasped it in both hands.

_Air. I need air._

She ran out the door, her breathing somewhat shallow, not even bothering to make her steps quiet. She thudded along a familiar path, through the mysteriously perpetually unlocked door, and breathed deeply again, emerging into the sunlight that was filtering through the thin clouds.

The roof was flat and dry, and unchanged as it had always been. The little holes in the concrete were free of dirt, but a fine film of smoky dust got into the cracks, marring the smooth gray surface. The neighboring roofs were at the same level as this one, giving the area the appearance of a bleak, unending desert. Yet there was something serene about the pure continuity of the environment, forever the same, unchecked, unchallenged. But eventually, the everlasting expanse came to an end with the invasion of a sector wall, and ultimately, the edge of the plate. Then it just dropped off into infinity, the unalterable end unclear nonetheless. The edge was there, of course, but it was blissfully out of sight and therefore out of mind, and no one bothered to take a closer look to try and spot it. It was a calming feeling to stand in the middle of the plains of forever, knowing that that edge was out there, if out of sight. Maybe that door was meant to stay unlocked. Diana stood there for minutes on end, just breathing, her eyes closed, the light dancing across her eyelids and creating flickering orange patterns among the black.

And then a voice. Sooner or later, someone stumbled upon a telescope, and that far-off edge was thrown into sharp relief, suddenly just at your feet.

"It is you. Knew I'd find you up here."

She spun around to get an armful of Zack. He hugged her tightly and finally released her, grinning. "See? You didn't attack me this time!"

She chuckled softly, glancing down. "I guess not. That's an improvement."

"No kidding!" he laughed. "Goddess, Di, where've you been? I thought you'd dropped off the face of the earth!"

"No, not quite…" she murmured, looking off to the side absently.

His brow creased and his face invaded her line of sight. "Hey. You okay?"

She looked into his eyes and gave an internal sigh. She supposed she was rather going to miss this…no! It had to be done. She just couldn't quite grasp the fact that she was about to say the things she was. She steeled herself, her own eyes melting into gray. "Actually, Zack, I wanted to talk to you…"

* * *

She was off running again, her hair flying wildly behind her, the occasional group of people scattering to get out of her way. She was a volatile bombshell, unexpected but suddenly very much a reality. She radiated desperation and dread and disjointed thoughts, and the potential to detonate at the slightest touch.

* * *

"Is Diana in here?" Zack asked in a panic, bursting into his friends' dorm.

"Why?" Cloud frowned. "Zack, what— Zack! What's going on? Wait!" He yelled and tore off after his friend, his book falling to the floor in a rustle of papers.

* * *

"Tifa!"

She flew out of her room, eyes wide. "What!"

"She's not here, either, damn—"

"Zack, what are you— Cloud! What's—"

"Come on!"

"What? I don't—" But she followed all the same, flinging her gloves to the side.

* * *

She was a blur streaking through the mazelike corridors and buildings of Shinra. She didn't know where to go. Where wouldn't he find her? She couldn't pretend to be Devon—not yet. Not now. She didn't want to see Zack until she absolutely had to. And she knew he'd go straight to Tifa…

Abruptly, she tore around a corner and slammed into a wall of red and black.

"Sorry!" she fairly screeched, trying to get around whatever…

"Diana?" came a deep voice from above her.

She looked up. "Angeal? Genesis? …Oh, thank Gaia. _Hide _me, please!" She looked frantically from one to the other, eyes wide. "Really, I really, really need your help right now!"

Angeal cocked his head to the side, turning to his friend.

Genesis shrugged.

Angeal shrugged.

Genesis grunted.

"Where to?" the auburn-haired First turned to her.

"_Any_where—shit!" she uttered under her breath as she glanced behind her, and caught sight of a narrow alcove in the stone wall of the courtyard. "Cover for me!" she whispered, fitting herself neatly into the deep, shadowed nook.

The two men nodded in agreement, not asking questions just yet, and casually engaged in conversation for about a second and a half.

"Angeal!"

Diana closed her eyes, her shaking hands clutched to her chest. His voice sounded strained; confused; in pain.

"What in Gaia's name are you doing, Zack?" came the calm reply.

"Have you seen—" he swallowed— "Diana?"

She squeezed her eyes tighter. Did he have to say her name like that? So easily, so effortlessly, like it meant something important, something cherished?

"Can't say I have. Tried the city—?" Angeal began to suggest.

Zack cursed despairingly, and pelted off again.

"_One flies away_…" Genesis murmured. "…Strife?" he inquired at a second pair of running steps, a third in hot pursuit. "Lockhart?"

"What—is going—_on_?" Cloud gasped.

"I believe Zachary just went that way—here, I'll come, he looked more than a bit troubled. I'd like to find out what's going on just as much as you do." Angeal led off Diana's two other friends at a brisk pace.

"_One is taken prisoner_…" Genesis continued, presumably in quoting mode.

When their steps faded from earshot, Diana unfolded her limbs and stepped out of the shadows carefully, eyes fixed on the ground.

She wouldn't look Genesis in the eye, until he spoke again.

"…_And the one that is left becomes a hero_."

The muddy-gray eyes snapped up to face the aquamarine.

"A…hero?"

He merely shrugged. "_My friend, the fates are cruel_…"

"No kidding." She suppressed a groan and sat on the ground, hiding her face in her hands.

"Something tells me you are feeling troubled," Genesis remarked after a moment, joining her on the ground.

"Hah!" she let out a slightly hysterical bark of laughter. "A bit. Just a bit. Kind of. Yeah. Can ya tell?"

He blinked slowly at her, forcing the truth out. She finally wrinkled her nose and sighed, relenting. "…IbrokeupwithZack."

It took a second for him to untangle the words. "You what?" he stared. "But I thought…"

"Yeah, so did I," she said dryly.

"…I don't believe we are on the same track there."

"How so?"

"I was about to say that I thought he loved you."

Her breath froze up and down her windpipe.

"And vice versa."

She whimpered helplessly. "I don't know, I just don't know. He never said so, and I…I never…"

He prodded her on with his eyes.

She inhaled deeply. "I never use that word! I never say it. Honestly! _My last name is Loveless, for Gaia's sake_."

"True. But you can't hide behind your name forever," he pointed out.

Another voice abruptly came back to her. **You cannot hide behind your name forever.**

"Hey, Genesis… What do you think the Goddess looks like?"

He blinked. "I'm not sure. I…never considered it much before."

"Hm. Well, I'm gonna go… I don't know where. I'll figure something out."

"As you wish. Good…good luck." He held out a hand and she took it, standing.

"Yeah. Thanks. See you around, and tell Angeal thanks." She turned and began to walk off somewhat dejectedly, feeling emptily deflated.

"Wait a moment."

She paused and turned halfway back, looking at the auburn-haired man over her shoulder.

"What were you about to say? What did _you _think before now?"

She blinked back something violently strong. Too strong for her liking. "…Just…I thought he had changed. I thought…I had changed him. That's all," she said quietly. "Oh, and Genesis—Gaia is a blonde."

* * *

She lay facedown in her bed that night, thinking about what had happened and how she could never face Zack while acting as her brother again. She wouldn't be able to speak. She would have to avoid everyone. She couldn't go around as Diana anymore…

She couldn't forget what Scarlet had let slip during one of their casual passing conversations earlier. She had always heard or read the phrase that implied that words kept echoing around in people's heads, and she had always considered it a strange figure of speech. The thing was, it was a pretty accurate way to state it. It just kept coming back to her, the same surprised, confidential tone of voice, those awful little words, and the way her breath had stopped.

Zack was now a proven cheater.

She couldn't burden him anymore with her secrets, either. That was what she had told him. She had to preserve what little sanity she had, and he was one person that it was getting really difficult to hide from. So naturally the solution was to cut off contact that way. She had to try to save his innocence, before he found the key to a lock he hadn't known existed. Now all she had to do was keep others from doing the same. But she wouldn't make the same mistakes over again. Oh, no, she would not.

He had assumed that she had found out about the things he had 'allegedly' done, too, and had tried to tell her that he was different, that half of it was only the product of rumors anyway, but he was only digging a hole deeper for himself.

And her old nightmare from weeks ago was still haunting her.

She now understood the words that had come from Zack's mouth.

It had appeared that they had a good, healthy, caring relationship. But it was a lie from the start, on both ends. She was sure that they had both dreamed about what could have been, and what never would be. If only it were real.

All promises were broken now…and she hated it. Yet it was better to realize the lies…wasn't it? Before they backed each other into inescapable corners and the truth was forced out of everything, bared for the world to see, impossible to hide or ignore any longer. Before the promises had to be revoked, the dream shattered. Before the dawn, because the sun symbolized hope, something she had given up on wishing for long ago. Something she knew she no longer had. It was better to realize those tainted truths, those half-told lies.

…Wasn't it?

* * *

Days passed.

Diana no longer showed her face, except for those betraying hours in the night when she slept. The youth and innocence still showed on her face when it relaxed into soft lines. Not even a disturbing nightmare cracked the sphere of calm sleep, and she dreaded the moments when she would have to wake up to begin to pretend again.

Devon no longer spoke. He didn't crack jokes with Cloud. He didn't run off to plot some crazy schemes with Shane. He didn't go with Max to raid the kitchens. He didn't goof off with Zack for no reason at all, solely for the purpose of having fun. In fact, he seemed to shun all human interaction. And no one except the very knowledgeable could quite figure out why.

* * *

Diana looked up in a 'what do you want' glare, but it softened slightly once she saw who it was. "Oh. Hi, Genesis."

"Hi." He took a seat next to her. "May I ask what you're doing in an empty courtyard by yourself, looking dejected and lonely?"

She barked a dry half-laugh. "Just being dejected and lonely. I'm good at that."

"I see." He was silent. He knew she would come out with it in a minute or two, if he just stuck around to hear her out.

"Gen?"

"Hm?"

"Aren't you supposed to feel…good…when you get rid of something you don't want anymore?"

"Normally, yes, I would suppose so." He knew where this was going, of course, but pretended otherwise.

She didn't bother beating around the bush for too long, either. "What if I don't? I'm supposed to feel light and free and whatever, but I only…I only feel different and I don't know what it means."

"Well. How so different?"

"I…don't know!" she said in frustration. "I can't even figure out my own thoughts. I've always thought I was pretty well in tune with myself, but apparently not."

"Maybe you're just afraid of facing what you know to be true."

"Absolutely not!" she almost snapped. "—Not afraid. Definitely not that. That can't be it."

"Well, you clearly still wouldn't be wanting to face it, fear or not," he pointed out.

"I—oh." This gave her pause, and she weighed the truth of his words. "Yeah, you're right," she mumbled. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."

"As I often am," he asserted. "And, no, you probably don't like it. You're too stubborn for that," he fairly snorted. "You'd rather cut off your right arm than admit you're wrong or ask for help."

She groaned and dropped her head onto her knees, which were propped up in front of her. "For one thing, you sound like my mother. For another thing, you know me better than I know myself. Tell me how that works."

And it was true, too. If there was one thing that Diana was absolutely horrible at, it was seeing things the way they truly were when they involved her. Sure, she could give a friend advice, or point out the obvious solution as a bystander. When it came to her own issues, however, she was blind and deaf to nearly everything. The only things she comprehended were, unfortunately, those that were sure to convolute her understanding of the truth. She would over-think the simplest, easiest choices, and would unsuccessfully try to shrink down a complicated scenario. Many a friend had rolled their eyes and gone on to state the obvious to Diana, followed by a rare silence and stare of incomprehension from the latter. It never failed, and she found it extremely irritating. And of course, because of this very problem itself, she never recognized it for what it was in the early stages.

Genesis had gotten to know Diana fairly well in the past several weeks. There was just something about surviving life-or-death situations together that had brought them closer, and she had begun to consider him a real friend. A few times, she had even debated the pros and cons of telling him about her situation. But then she remembered that he was best friends with Angeal and Sephiroth, and that idea was quickly scratched. All the same, he was someone to depend on, and she had grown to like the constant of a person in her life whom she didn't have to be careful around or worry about. They never talked about anything particularly important. She figured that maybe all that Loveless stuff had made him smarter after all. He was very into his philosophy and whatnot, with an uncanny sense for human nature, and it didn't really matter what they discussed because he was always so laid-back.

"Well, to be honest, you act like my mother as well, so it evens out." Genesis made a face. "And you just have the same affliction as most human beings."

"Oh, yeah?" she asked dryly, not raising her head. "And what's that?"

"Blindness towards oneself. The inability to see that which pertains to yourself, no matter how great your insight might be into outside matters," he elucidated.

"Oh, thrilling. Does everyone have it this bad, though? I mean really. Come on," she complained, picking her head up and throwing a hand in the air in exasperation.

"Well…" he considered, cocking his head to the side. "No," he confirmed. "Probably not." His voice bordered on a laugh, and Diana called him on it.

"Ah! What's that? Was that a laugh? I think so. Genesis is giggling…!" she sang, in a slightly better mood now than she had been in a day or two. Thank Gaia for Genesis. He might be stoic, but somehow the two of them understood each other unnaturally well.

"I do not giggle," he said stiffly, regarding the young woman out of the corner of his eye. She smiled impishly, and the expression wasn't as strained as he had seen it on previous days. She had been putting on a brave face for a while now, and he couldn't pretend that he wasn't slightly resentful that someone had caused her to feel so completely empty and dejected.

"You're so dang apathetic," she chuckled, hitting him on the shoulder and leaning back against the wall again.

The corner of his mouth twitched up. "I know. Have to keep the image up and all, don't I?"

"Yeah, Gaia forbid someone catch you and Sephiroth drunk together or something—oh, but wait. That already happened, didn't it?" She fixed him in place with a teasing look.

He groaned with more conviction, throwing an arm over his eyes. "Please, don't remind me. Whoever said that SOLDIERs can't get drunk…forget it." It was just too humiliating to remember. Never mind that he had actually been _hitting on Diana_. Then again, so were half the men in that bar, if only in their imaginations. Genesis couldn't deny that she was a very attractive young woman, even if she was likely to strangle anyone who tried to put the moves on her. Maybe that was just part of her charm.

"What about the hangover? Bet that was a killer, especially once you figured out that there were really loud alarms going off and people going crazy that morning." She raised her eyebrows, gray-hazel eyes glinting in amusement.

"Now _that _was unpleasant. Especially because Angeal had to come get me that morning. I was _so _gone, and then he shows up at the door, yelling and swinging that blasted sword in my face…" He exhaled exasperatedly and passed a hand over his eyes. "And then we both had to go charging out there. Ugh. And then you show up, and I'm not even quite sure what happened after that," he snorted. "Another one of your issues: always playing the hero," he grumbled.

"Me?" she laughed shortly. "Nah, not really, I mean, I look out for people, but that's just because of how I was raised, I guess…"

"May I reiterate your mention of SOLDEIRs and their tendency toward altruistic suicide? Now who does that sound like?" he mocked her.

"Oh, fabulous," she snorted. "Gaia, you do know me too well."

And he realized that it was true. He really had grown to know her better recently, and he really rather enjoyed it.

"And I also know that you're going to get yourself into some real trouble these days—" he reprimanded her.

"Aw, Genesis, you really do care," she smirked jokingly.

He realized all too soon that that part was true, too. "Yeah, probably more than I should," he muttered without thinking.

She blinked, but only in slight confusion. Had she heard him right? She turned her head towards him, asking, "What's that supposed to—?"

The only answer she got was Genesis right up close and personal and in her face.

More specifically, kissing her.

_Oh my Gods what is going ON here—?_

He had hardly even considered what he was doing, and suddenly it was just happening, no planning; not even any conscious decision. For a second he was just as surprised as she was, then he grasped that he was actually enjoying himself. In the next millisecond, he comprehended how wrong that was, and a classic mental panic attack set in. His mind was thrown into disarray, and he broke away quickly, just taking in her shocked gray eyes before losing his nerve completely and making a run for it.

It wasn't right. It was selfish of him, confusing to her, and unfair to them both. So he bolted.

And as for Diana, she sat there in shock, asking herself over and over if that had actually just happened. Confirming that it had didn't seem to help much, though, and she didn't understand what had in fact just happened. Never mind why. So she panicked as well, and ran, looking over her shoulder repeatedly.

* * *

Some distance away, Angeal Hewley shook his head. The phrase 'Genesis is obsessed with Loveless' seemed to be taking on a new meaning lately. When was his First Class friend going to learn? When was the enigma known as Diana Loveless going to learn? And when was his unfortunate Puppy going to learn?

He sighed. Just his luck to accidentally stumble across these situations. Why was he always the one stuck in the middle of it all? He wondered for quite possibly the millionth time what he had done in a past life to deserve this.

**A/N: AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! *runs in circles around the room shrieking* DON'T SHOOT ME but this was after all intended to be a drama-angst chapter! I don't even know how to summarize all that, so just leave me a review, react to all this madness, scream at me, whatever. Thanks for reading, even if you might now have the urge to commit some good old-fashioned premeditated homicide! I promise it's gonna be okay!**


	30. Reflect and Echo

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Clearly I'm the only one who can come up with this insanity, sooo... it should be clear what I do not in fact own.**

**A/N: *bursts out of closet serving as hiding place for the part forty-eight hours* I KNEW YOU WERE ALL GONNA KILL ME ALIVE! But it's all okay! I apologize, right now I don't have time to respond to actual individual reviews, but in general: i warned yoooooou hahahaha thanks for putting up with my madness. Have no fear! It is ALL GOOD! I think it was DarkAssassin who said Go Genesis! Sucks for Diana, that's pretty awful... But go Genesis! Love you ^^ But of course we don't want our poor Puppy all alone and sad, now do we? (Um hello, I'll take 'im!) So many reviews! Seven I think! Thanks so much guys, I love you all to death. So this chapter shall reveal all...and it's like the shortest I've had in a whiiiiile. Under 3,000 words I think. Dude whoa. Hahaha, well, read on and enjoy, and thanks for keeping me alive til now :)**

**Chapter 30: Reflect and Echo Again**

Zack hardly uttered a sound. His friends would catch him staring down at the ground; at the table; at his hands.

Maybe they would have understood if he had looked deep in thought, or mischievous, or even the slightest bit angry.

But what concerned them was that, most of all, he looked confused.

* * *

Cloud knew exactly what was going on. He wanted to just take his two friends, smack them upside the heads, and shove them back together. But of course, they had to realize that themselves first.

He asked Tifa for help—she just echoed his thoughts. They had to work it out themselves. But he argued that they needed to acknowledge the actual presence of a dire issue, first.

He constantly mused over Diana's real motives for breaking it off. What she had told Zack was utter crap. Cloud knew more than anyone, except for Tifa…yet he didn't quite understand, and that was perhaps the most frustrating thing of all.

* * *

Max and Shane began to talk. They were utterly clueless as to the situation, and it took them a day or two to get anything out of Cloud. _He _knew what was up, and they knew it. The two had guessed correctly when they hypothesized that it was something to do with Diana's supposed dumping of Zack.

But why would Dev go all gloomy? He and Zack almost seemed to consciously avoid each other now—like the other brought unpleasant things into the picture. It was awfully strange not to see the two interacting. A good number of people had come to Max and Shane, asking questions about their friends and why the famous group of five was in pieces all of a sudden. They couldn't answer truthfully.

Max thought it was something that Zack had done to upset Diana, which in turn had ticked Devon off, and Diana had broken up with Zack. Shane thought that it might be a bit more complex than that, though he couldn't quite put it to words. Cloud had let something slip, though, while talking to Tifa, and Shane had overheard…something about Dev talking in his sleep. Something about…angels. Now that made no sense. But who could say for certain?

* * *

Wednesday, the thirty-first of July, came.

It was Diana's birthday.

She hadn't been keeping track of time, nor date, nor much of anything else lately.

She turned twenty without noticing.

The one time Tifa extracted some kind of emotional response from her best friend was when she mentioned the date. It was Friday, the second of August.

It had almost passed Diana by, and then she realized that the thirty-first had come and gone. She thought back quickly—what had she even done on Wednesday? Oh. That was right. She had gone on another solo mission to the slums, on a call about some monsters. She had finished in what seemed to be record time.

Her superiors were beginning to worry. The kid was taking on several small missions a day, filling up the mission log but never opting to leave the city. Soon he was bound to dry up and run out of steam. Those who knew him agreed that things had been awfully strange around room 192 during the past week.

And it had been a week, exactly.

Diana moved through each day mechanically, not reacting to much of anything, cutting down monsters in the hopes of alleviating some of the stress she felt weighing on her shoulders. It would help—for a little while.

* * *

By the time Saturday the tenth of August came, she had nearly fully convinced herself that she didn't need any guy. She was doing perfectly fine all on her own, and didn't need someone to depend on like that. She decided that it was his loss for lying (artfully ignoring her own issues) and that they were both better off this way.

Almost.

For a little while.

She was at Seventh Heaven, sitting at the dark end of the bar. A glass of rum was held loosely in her right hand, and her face was turned away from the center of the room.

Tifa had her hands full with the Saturday night crowd, especially with Cloud otherwise occupied for the night and Diana in no fit state to help. Diana had stated firmly, in a voice otherwise devoid of emotion, that she would be fine left alone with her thoughts for an hour or two.

First, Tifa had had to convince her of something.

"Wait! What if…_he's _there?"

"I wouldn't worry. I'm sure Cloud's got it all taken care of."

* * *

"Cloud, honestly, I don't really want to go anywhere tonight."

"Come on, you don't have to do anything, just sit, and, you know, chill out. It'd be good for you."

Zack peered out from underneath the arm flung over his face. "You think?"

"Yeah. Now let's go. Just do it."

He sighed. "Fine—wait." He froze, mid movement, looking his blonde friend in the eye. "…What if _she's _there?"

Cloud sighed. "Don't worry about it. Teef's probably got it all taken care of."

* * *

Diana took another sip of her second glass of rum. Some men off behind her and to her right had started trading glances between themselves and gesturing at her. She tugged at her ponytail to distract herself, loosening it, and leaned farther over onto the counter.

_Not this, please not this, I don't want this, not right now…_

Their comments became louder and less subtle. Eventually she couldn't stand it. She had no energy, and it wasn't their fault that they were just a bunch of men out to enjoy themselves at a bar. So she just turned halfway around and gave them the piercing stare. It wasn't the drop-dead stare. This one was just like a normal glance, except straight into the eyes with an intense expression that made you believe that your very soul was being examined.

They backed off after that.

She was blind and deaf to everyone in the room. She didn't really care to be around people much recently. Eventually she had to use the bathroom, and got up quietly to cross to a door to the left of the bar counter. This led down a short, narrow hall with a door on each wall. She went for the one on the end.

A moment later, she stood in front of the mirror, by the sink, for a long time. It was really only about three minutes, but…she just couldn't stop staring. She didn't understand why.

Finally she sighed and looked away from her reflection, but it came out more like a whimper.

She turned to the door and opened it blindly, looking at the floor, as had become her habit of late.

She hadn't expected someone to be standing in the hall.

She nearly ran smack into them, but tried to stumble sightlessly onward, muttering an apology. Whoever it was, was in her way. She paused, confused, waiting for them to move.

They spoke.

"Why?"

Initially, the question itself confused her. Why what? That seemed like a silly thing to ask.

Then the voice got through to her.

Out of instinct, she nearly looked up, a gasp barely escaping past her lips, but she ducked her head to the side instead.

"Oh." It was all she could manage.

"I don't understand." He sounded like a frustrated child; unable to comprehend something that he felt should be simple.

"I explained…" she barely vocalized.

"No, you didn't, really," he stated matter-of-factly.

She glanced around him, eyes darting to the sides in search of escape.

"Nope," he declared. "You're not getting out of this one. Not a chance."

She exhaled resignedly. She still stared down and to her left. "What do you want to know most?"

He thought for a moment before answering. "What did you mean by saying that you…weren't good for me? You were using the vague, clichéd 'it's not you it's me' excuse. So what are your legit reasons?"

She almost laughed humorlessly. "See, that's the very problem, isn't it? I can't even tell you! I can't tell you anything about me, and that's not right. I can't go on lying—"

"—That's not lying."

She blinked.

"—That's just evading telling the full truth. There's a difference."

"So that makes it okay?"

"Not entirely. I'm just saying that there's a way to compromise."

There was silence for a moment.

"Can I ask you something, then?" Diana asked quietly.

"Go ahead, since you already have now."

"…Same question. Why did _you _try to blame yourself when I said I was the problem? Isn't that the default response to the 'it's not you it's me' tactic?"

"That's because I have skeletons in my closet, too," came the quick response. "Everyone does. They're just a little different. Look, Diana, I—"

She very nearly screamed internally when he said her name. _Why do you say it like that? Why do you have to say it that way? Why does it sound the way it does, coming from you, of all people?_

"—I know I've screwed up before. We all have. But—and I know this is going to sound cheap—I would never consciously hurt you like that. I've changed—people change."

"But _I _haven't," she insisted, gritting her back teeth. "I'm always the same, forever making the same mistakes, unable to change or fix my own problems. And suddenly it's someone else's burden. I—" she shook her head fiercely— "I hate it!"

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe people don't care?" He raised his eyebrows slightly.

"I…no, but…that's not logical!" She glared at the wall to her right, engaging in a staring match with a tiny chip in the paint. "If I can't stop weighing other people down, how can anyone trust me, or even be around me and not be afraid? I bring people down with me but I somehow always manage to get out of it, leaving them to handle things alone, and me unable to help them after all—! It's impossible!" She squeezed her eyes shut, a breath hissing over her teeth.

"…And here I was, believing you're suffering from some kind of warped inferiority complex," he stated.

"What?" She blinked at the baseboard.

"I thought…never mind. It would take too long to explain. But it seems I've got you figured out all wrong, I suppose…"

"Well, it shouldn't matter to you by now, anyway, so don't bother yourself with trying," she said bluntly.

"You're talking about it like all hope is lost," he said quietly, unexpectedly. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that's the way it is."

She froze. The walls of the small hallway suddenly seemed very close and very spacious at the same time. Her eyes slid to the floor in between her sneakers and the second pair of feet facing hers.

"Come on," he coaxed. "All you have to do is look up, and say a few little words."

She shifted slightly, but didn't really move.

"Please?" He took a chance and reached over and tapped her lightly under the chin, causing her to snap her head up in surprise. Her instincts made her look directly into his cerulean eyes as soon as her vision found his face. He blew out a breath in apprehension. "Whoo. You are _not _happy right now," he declared, the statement a bit more in character for him.

"What makes you say that?" she muttered, eyes flicking from his.

He rolled his own eyes and caught her face in his hands. She froze again at his touch, her gaze still flitting around him, not looking at him straight on. She couldn't take this much longer…this proximity…it was too much. She couldn't handle keeping it in, and she didn't trust herself at all. She was about to burst, and she had to get away before he noticed. Except to get out, she had to say something that she felt she didn't know the answer to.

"Your eyes. They give you away. Dark gray doesn't seem like a particularly happy color…am I right? Wait a sec. Hey, where'd this purple come from?" he asked in surprise, peering at the center of her irises, around her pupils. He still held her face in one hand. Sure enough, a light lavender had appeared there.

A memory unexpectedly flashed to the forefront of his brain. _His vision was filled with a pair of pale purple eyes before he drowned in their depths and passed out again._

Zack shook himself mentally. "Just choose, one or the other," he whispered, still not relinquishing his hold. "Hopeless, or not? All you have to do is say so…"

A memory took over Diana's thoughts for a moment. _"One who should have more right than any other… You cannot hide behind your name forever."_

She waved the tangent recollection away. "I…I don't know what to think anymore."

Thoroughly taking her off guard, Zack groaned loudly and threw his hands in the air. "Damn it, haven't you caught on yet? You're going to make me say it, aren't you?"

"…What are you—"

"It couldn't have been an accident when I first met you that day way back in Kalm. Or when I followed you outside that night months ago. There was a reason. I should have known it from the start, and told you right away—when are you going to figure out that I love you?"

Her jaw dropped halfway. She clamped it shut. She opened her mouth, and closed it.

Yet somehow, she didn't feel that somewhat familiar sense of sympathetic regret; that this was something one-sided, never to be returned properly.

He had taken her completely by surprise yet again, yet all she felt was…wonder.

She looked down, then back up at him, at a total loss for words, never mind any words to actually go with her emotions.

"I love you, Diana Loveless, and no name of yours in going to get in my way," he declared matter-of-factly.

"I…Zack, I…" she said softly, unable to think of anything, except his name. She lifted her eyes to bore into his.

He gave her a lopsided grin all of a sudden. Another sneak attack. "Blue," he uttered calmly. "I guess that's all I need, then." And he leaned towards her…

But she beat him to it. Diana nearly tackled him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him enthusiastically. He responded rather appropriately.

A moment later, they let go of each other and Diana rested her forehead against Zack's. "I have to say this now, otherwise you'll never get it out of me. I love you, Zack Fair."

She had never told someone that in this way before. It was strange to say…

He had never actually told a girl that, this way at least, before. It was weird, but it sounded kind of funny coming out of his mouth…

* * *

The two sat side by side at the bar minutes later, Diana leaning on Zack's shoulder.

"So you're telling me you actually _believed _what that jealous woman was telling you?" Zack asked incredulously.

"Hey, not my fault I'm gullible in regards to feminine gossip. Why is it that I can understand guys who have the emotional range of, like…" she looked around for inspiration, "a shot glass, and the emotional expression of, like, a teaspoon? Yet I can't interpret girl signals or whatever? How unfair is that? Was I meant to be a guy or something?" she ranted.

"Well, all I can say is that that would be sufficiently disappointing, seeing as how I'm not interested in men that way." Zack raised his eyebrows.

Diana whacked him halfheartedly on the arm. "I guess I should feel honored to in fact be a female. But seriously. So you never actually did any of that stuff?" _You know if you lie now I'll have to beat you with something_, she thought, half serious.

"You mean cheat and everything? Gaia no. I mean, we all have our phases, and I'm not particularly proud of my seventeen-year-old self, but… You know, I guess I kinda figured myself out recently. Especially since you came along." He smiled down at her. "I've gotta be pretty lucky."

"I have to say, I'm kind of proud of you, Zack." Her mouth quirked to one side in a smile. "Looks like we're both experts at self-help. Compulsive lying is tough to beat." She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Still a work in progress, actually."

He shrugged. "I can hold out. What else am I here for? Just don't change too much."

"True… Yeah, don't worry about that. And thanks." She leaned into him, sighing in satisfaction. _Especially since you came along…_

**A/N: Awwwwwww see? We're all happy! ^^ So in case you were confused about Diana, she was pretty much trying to protect them both by breaking up with Zack because she just couldn't take the risk and the pressure anymore, but she was refusing to really accept that. So she looked for a different motive, and all the rumors that were fed to her just fueled her decision and she found that as justification. And also, the little one-liner flashbacks: Zack's was when he almost died in Wutai and Di/Dev saved him and the last thing he saw was her/his eyes; Diana's was from her conversations with Gaia. Btw, I still want your reactions, so review please! (You know you wanna rant about something or other. ;) ) Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and see you again soon! :D**


	31. Somewhere To Belong

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Thirteen days of not updating, yet I haven't managed to track down the ownership of FFVII. Funny, that.**

**A/N: I CONFESS! It's been almost two weeks since my last update! *wails* I'm sorry... And I've been looking at my Story Alerts, too, wanting something to come up that I can read. Nothing for the past several days. I just know it's my punishment for not getting this up... But anyways! Here it is, and it's a looong one! (This is good, right?) Longest in a while, actually. It's time to meet two new people :) Actually, more than that, but the two (okay, maaaybe three) are the important ones. Forgive me please ^^ and enjoy! (After these messages...)**

**animechick: Aww that's okay! Don't we all just hate school :P So glad to see you back! :) And I hope your expectations are met.**

**Shatter: YAY! Hahaha, good stuff, yes? And yeah, ya think? Haha she's the designated 'bad-guy'. Although you'll meet a pretty awful one in this chapter. Thank you :) I specialize in the unexpected. And the question of the revealing of Diana's secret...well, that certainly _is_ the question, isn't it? I've got it allll planned out (muahaha.) And let me tell you, you haven't seen anything 'unexpected' yet with the secret-revealing situation in the running! It's going to be so amazingly epic ^^ Thank you, and thanks for the cookies (nom)!**

**Sarah: Haha! Awesome, is it not? Thanks for the review, and here ya go!**

**LoveTheCrazy: You mean my tendency to torture my readers and characters with misleading side situations/problems? :D Lol, I'm sorry :P Things were just too perfect to be true, you know? We had to hit a speedbump sometime. Thanks and you're welcome!**

**Sayonara: Yeah, it was a bit sudden, but keep in mind that a whole week of awfulness dragged by. I'll be going back into that week later and making references to little side situations that I didn't put in the chapter. Like I said to LoveTheCrazy, a small detour was needed :) Don't worry, I've got plenty up my sleeve XD Thanks for reviewing!**

**And now...onward! _Attack-! _Er, _READ! _XD**

**Chapter 31: Somewhere To Belong**

**-Friday, 16 August, 1000 hours-**

"I was thinking, and I decided something," Diana declared, looking up from where she was curled up in a chair in Zack's room.

"Let me guess. That you need to let me sleep in once in a while?" he yawned.

"You came back here at, like, eleven last night! That's practically early for you," she scoffed. "Come on, even _I _got up and got here to freak you out in the morning. Clearly it's late enough."

He continued to mutter incoherently. "Scared the crap out of me…"

"That's my job!" she said brightly. She was back to normal recently, happier if anything. She was _alive _again. And she had had a brilliant idea! "Anyway. So I decided you're coming with me to Kalm this weekend."

He turned after a second of absorbing her words, and blinked at her. "Huh?"

She leaned back, smirking, and crossed her arms. "Yep. I'm going home. And I'm dragging you along."

"But…" he protested weakly. "But I have work, you know that…"

"You'll find that your timetables from today til Monday morning are cleared."

His eyes widened and he gave her a disbelieving look.

She shrugged. "I have my ways."

"I'm not sure I ever want to know how you manage to work these things out," he muttered, running a hand through his hair and pacing across the room.

Diana was going home.

She had decided to do so a couple of days ago, when she had come across her parents' letter to her in a spontaneous fit of organizing her half of the room. She needed to see them. She had to visit, and face the memories that came with that, once and for all.

"Start packing now; we've got a bus to catch. Eventually." She glanced at the time on the front of her PHS: 10:09.

"…Fabulous. Uh…one question."

"Yeah?" She shifted in her chair.

"Who knows about this?" He grabbed a bag and proceeded to take off his shirt, thoroughly distracting Diana.

"Uh. …Um, Tifa, and I figured we'd tell Cloud and Max and Shane on the run. Technically they're _your _SOLDIERs," she chuckled, still (quite understandably) a bit unable to keep her eyes off him, even when he pulled a t-shirt on over his head.

"Yeah, but you're, like, their mother or something—" he joked. "Hey!" he protested as she punched him playfully in the arm before turning around the other way innocently, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Not cool!"

"Au contraire." She turned back halfway and raised her eyebrows at him. "Very cool."

He rolled his eyes. Then he reached out swiftly and snatched her around the waist with one arm, hugging her to him. When she looked up at him, he took advantage of the moment and kissed her before releasing her towards the door. "Do what you need to, I'll see you in twenty."

She flashed him a grin and made for room 192, where she picked up the laundry and informed her roommates of her and Zack's impromptu trip to her hometown. Cloud conveniently spoke up that Devon was copying them and leaving town as well, except no one was quite sure where he was going. He had already left (a.k.a. Diana's bags were at Tifa's) but would supposedly be back sometime late Sunday.

Diana then made her way to Tifa's to drop off the laundry and get her bags.

"Hey, brought some real good stuff this time," she warned her friend as she walked in the door, her arms full.

"What happened? Like, the worst, I mean." Tifa wrinkled her nose, taking the basket gingerly.

"All I'm gonna say is Chocobo stables."

"Ah. Charming."

"Precisely. Oh, my Goddess, Cloud is actually getting better with the whole acting, 'speaking-up-at-appropriate-times' thing! I was just over there—obviously."

"Ah! I'm proud." Tifa laughed, going through the pile of clothes apprehensively. "I totally taught him all he knows."

"Yeah, I'm just grateful that you wear the proverbial pants in the relationship," Diana laughed back, picking up her backpack from beside the couch.

"I do wear the pants—_whoo_—just not these pants, they smell like _shit_."

The two paused, looked at each other, and collapsed into giggle fits.

"Okay. Okay, I gotta go now. See you Sunday!" Diana sang, hugging her friend and making her way out the door.

"Have fun, good luck!" Tifa waved to her.

* * *

"So this is it, huh?" Zack asked.

"Small town, yeah, but…I kinda like it," Diana replied, a bit quietly. She stared at the walls around the town, the gate in front…the dust fading from the bus they had taken there. "Nothing's changed," she murmured, and began walking to the gates.

"Name and business?" droned a sentry, sounding quite bored, from behind a sliding panel in the door to a sort of gatehouse.

"Come on, now, does a girl really need an excuse to visit home?" Diana grinned.

He grumbled and peered through the slot, then gave a start and opened the door. "Diana Loveless? Goddess above…it's been months, hasn't it?"

She laughed a bit self-consciously. "Well, yeah… I'm just visiting, though. Kind of off to see the world, and all that."

"Wow. Who woulda known? Well, good luck to you," the man nodded and smiled at her and Zack, and waved them through.

"Thanks!"

Seeing town again was like coming home after a long vacation and not quite knowing what to do with yourself in this strange yet naturally familiar place. She had been born and raised in this town, and she was back, if only for a few days.

For all the memories this place held, painful or otherwise, it was a great feeling to see it all again.

"Okay, now, just about everyone is going to flip once they see me, so just act normal," she said to her raven-haired companion.

"Huh? Everyone?" He gave her a quizzical look.

"Everyone who's anyone knows everyone else in this town, trust me. Isn't Gongaga the same way?"

"Well, I guess…"

"…And if Dev and I grew up here together, wouldn't you imagine that everyone would figure out, sooner or later, who we were?"

"I…oh. Oh, yeah, that makes a lot of sense." He grimaced. He could just see those two growing up in infamy as the havoc-wreakers of the town. "Wow, these poor people," he sighed in mock sympathy.

"Hey, quiet, you!" she laughed, hitting him lightly on the arm.

"Mommy, look, look, isn't that Diana? It _is!_ Diana, Diana!" came a squeal from their right. Diana spun to face the speaker and was greeted by a little girl, about six years old, running at her.

"Who's this—Melanie? Hey, girl, how've you been doing? You miss me?" Diana laughed, picking up the girl and spinning her around to hold her on her front.

"You came back! I missed you. Why did you have to leave?" the girl pouted, her pigtails swishing.

"I'm sorry. I'll tell you next time I take off like that, okay, Mel? I promise."

The pout lifted slightly. "Pinky promise?"

"Pinkie promise."

Zack chuckled, watching the two. For all Diana put on that she couldn't deal with children, here she was acting as if she had kids herself. She had no hard exterior when she was with Marlene and Denzel, and apparently had been the same way here at home.

"See you later!" Diana waved to the girl's mother, walking alongside Zack again. "She thinks your hair is funny," she declared, trying not to laugh.

"What? Funny? I do _not _have 'funny' hair," he huffed, making her laugh more.

"Oh, yes, you do, especially when you hang out around Cloud. The two of you are the only people I know who look like a chocobo and a porcupine. But don't worry." Her mouth quirked to the side. "I like it."

Diana said hello to the people who recognized her on sight, which was just about everyone. What she didn't realize was how surprised they were at how she had changed. The last time they saw her, she was an isolated, lonely, broken teenager, put through something no human should ever have to experience. Then she had disappeared, with only a note left for her parents and a few late letters of correspondence to show for it. Who was this confident young woman, standing tall and strong, laughing and waving to everyone, alongside a handsome young man?

But a moment and several more brief greetings to passerby later, a voice made Diana stop dead.

"Hey, _Diana_. So you're back, are you?" it drawled.

She breathed in and out slowly, then turned around to see the young man striding down the street toward them. "Crap. I'd hoped to avoid this," she muttered to Zack. "Sorry. This should just take a minute. Stop me from killing him if you need to."

He looked at her sharply, devoid of guesses and pretty confused, but didn't have time to inquire as to the identity of the stranger.

"Hello, Samuel. Yes, I'm back. Just visiting, actually. I won't have to look at you more than I absolutely need to," she replied, with just an undertone of frostiness. She regarded the youth with clear distaste, though. He was about a year older than her, of average height for a male – not as tall as Zack. His brown hair was relatively short, and he could have been somewhat handsome if not for the permanent sneer fixed on his face and his cold dark eyes.

"Ooh. Ouch. Whatcha doing back here, then? Drag this one along with you?" He cocked his head at Zack, who blinked slowly back in response. Apparently Zack wasn't a first-time huge fan of the stranger who Diana so clearly didn't like either.

"Yeah. Actually, I lied and tricked him into coming with me, and now I'm off to go rub his nose in the dirt. Sound familiar?" she half-snarled coldly, not able to resist the open jibe. Zack gave an inner start. What in the hell? What was _with _these two? And what did she mean, 'sound familiar'?

The façade dropped and he sneered openly at her. "You didn't answer why you're back."

"Can't I just visit because I feel like it? Come home once in a while?"

"…Gonna go have a hike up the mountain while you're here?" he suggested after a pause, almost too casually.

She froze, even though she was already standing still.

He continued. "Maybe you'll make a friend or two up there. Talk to some witnesses—"

"_Shut up_," she said in a low voice, taking a step toward him.

He sauntered closer as well. "—Heck, you could probably even ask your cousin what he—"

"_Stop talking!_" she stepped up to him and yelled in his face.

"—Seen the rest of your family lately—?"

"STOP IT!"

He finally stopped.

Not only was she afraid of Zack hearing too much—it was just too painful to hear hashed out like that. She wasn't going to undergo this.

"You will never speak about a member of my family ever again," she snarled. He was obviously expecting her to back down. Instead, she stepped closer to him.

He still had a button left to push, though. "Fine then, mind if I ask about your latest victim over there?" he indicated Zack disdainfully with his eyes. "I'm guessing he's no family member."

She glared at him hard for a second, eyes turning steadily darker. "You're no better than the low-life you were four years ago. Unlike _you_, he's a real person with real feelings. So you can just go away now." She stared him down, and he wavered ever so slightly. "_Out of my sight_."

And with a final sneer, he pivoted and stalked away. Diana deflated a bit.

"Oh, my Goddess, Di, who—no, what the _hell _was that?" Zack nearly gasped, coming up beside her and hugging her to his side protectively, as if to keep her from shattering under impact.

"…Remember that time in Seventh Heaven a while back? When I threw that guy out? He reminded me a little of this jackass. Just a little," she reminisced. "Ex-boyfriends aren't supposed to be _this _vicious, are they?"

He almost gagged. "Are you serious? That's just…"

She shrugged. "It's over now. I was fifteen then. _Goddess_, I was glad when it was over. …But anyway. Let's go. Just a few more blocks."

A minute later, they turned onto Diana's street. "So, er…" Zack began uncomfortably. "What will they think of me?" he fairly whispered.

_Just like a kid_, Diana thought in amusement. "I honestly don't know. Well, obviously, who wouldn't like you? But you know how the overprotective parents get…"

"That's the thing—I don't really," he muttered, kicking a rock across the road.

Her brow wrinkled. "What do you mean? Don't you visit yours often?"

"Kinda, just… I left for Midgar to go to the Academy when I was fourteen. Other kids were going to high school, but I knew even then that I wanted to be in the army, so I left. And if I chickened out along the way, well, there were still plenty of good career options. Not to mention, Shinra kind of keeps up a policy of their operatives having limited contact with family members. It's partially a good idea, but partially torture."

"Oh, wow…" she murmured. "That's...kind of terrible. I mean, I get that the threat is always to hunt down the family of a target, so for protective purposes it's logical. But cutting off contact...that sounds awful. And I didn't know you'd spent so much time in the city."

"It's practically home. Sort of. Except it's too busy, and you never really get used to the mako pollution. But Gongaga's too quiet for the likes of me, so I guess it balances out," he chuckled dryly.

"'The likes of you'," she snorted. "Alright then. Anyway, turn on that charm of yours—I don't want my parents thinking I'm _too _irresponsible," Diana remarked, giving him an impish grin.

"Please tell me they're at least not anti-Shinra," he pleaded, running a hand through his hair.

"I'd say 'neutral' there. So you're lucky in that department," she replied absently, taking in the sights of her hometown all over again, quite literally with different eyes. Especially that hemlock in that side yard that was particularly good for climbing.

Diana knocked on the door of the familiar blue-gray house. It was of average size for the town, almost picturesque, with a front porch and a sloping roof and neat white-framed windows complete with flower boxes. She loved this house. It sure was weird to be knocking…

It opened. There stood a woman with gray eyes and Diana's brown hair, dressed nicely but casually, an inch or two shorter than her daughter. Diana had also inherited her mother's mostly straight nose with the slight bump in it and her defined cheekbones.

"Hi Mom," she said.

The woman gasped and blinked for a second, then fairly tackled her daughter. Diana almost stumbled backwards over her over-stuffed backpack that she had set down. "Oh, you're back, you came back like you said…" The two women didn't let go of each other for a long moment. Then a tall man with salt-and-pepper hair and Diana's stubborn set of the mouth appeared in a doorway farther back into the house.

"Oh, Gaia," Zack heard Diana's father say before bursting out the door as well to pry his wife off his daughter.

"Hi, Dad," Diana got out before she was squashed into another hug, and she laughed shortly for lack of oxygen.

"Di…where have you _been_?" her mother demanded, planting her hands on her hips. "Nothing more than a few letters back and forth, and two months after you were already gone—!"

"Month and a half—" Diana put in, correcting her.

"Whatever! And then you say you can't tell us anything? We're your parents, don't you think maybe we—oh! Who's this?" She had caught sight of Zack, standing just at the top of the porch steps.

"Er… Mom, Dad, this is the guy I sort of told you about…uh…" She fidgeted awkwardly. She wasn't exactly used to the whole 'here, overprotective parental units, meet my boyfriend!' thing.

"Ohhh, is this your _boyfriend_?" her mother stage-whispered.

Diana resisted the urge to smack her own forehead. "_Yes_, Mother."

"Well, what a handsome young man! Come on in, now, what's your name?"

"Thank you, ma'am, I'm Zack Fair. Nice to meet you." He offered her a hand, shaking it pleasantly. He did the same to Mr. Loveless a moment later.

Diana resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Oh, please, you can call me Mrs. L," her mother tittered.

"Let's just all stand awkwardly on the porch, then…" Diana muttered. Zack suppressed a rather ungentlemanly snort.

"Come inside, both of you, come on, I can take that, hon, are you sure—oh, Goddess above, what is _in _there?" Mrs. Loveless regarded her daughter's full-to-bursting backpack warily.

"I wouldn't try, Chloe," Mr. Loveless remarked dryly. "I'm sure you don't want to know, assuming she so much as lets you find out."

Zack looked at Diana. "Okay, scary, but I can see where you inherited your personality from."

"Yes, well, she always was exactly like Delos," Diana's mother relented.

**(A/N on interesting background: The names of the Loveless family come from a combination of a few references from classical myths and name meanings. I took Chloe from both Clio, one of the nine Muses, specializing in history; and Chloe, an epithet for Demeter, the easygoing Greek goddess of agriculture and nature. Delos was the island on which the Greek god Apollo was born; Apollo was the twin brother of Artemis, also known as Diana. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and the night, often represented by the moon. She made her father promise her at an early age that he would never force her into a marriage, and she mostly scorned the presence of men (in a romantic sense at least). She was overall pretty kick-ass. I couldn't really come up with a way to make 'Apollo' sound like an everyday name, so I just came up with a name I liked for Devon. It also means 'poet', 'perfect', 'servant', and 'divine one,' which can be modified to be fairly appropriate as far as symbolism goes. I thought that with all the little allusions and possible subtle historical and mythological connections that the FF series makes, I could make things a little more interesting. :) So thanks for listening.)**

"Heyyy!" Diana protested. "Dad…no fair beating on my unwillingness to share things."

"Like your location for the past three months, for example?" he retorted shrewdly.

She glared at the ground and picked her bags up with little effort, grumbling to herself. "I'll explain, chill out, at least wait 'til we're all in the house…"

Zack chuckled under his breath, but stopped abruptly as he spotted Diana at the base of a narrow staircase, swinging one of her packs back and forth, looking like she was about to throw it. Her parents were already making their way toward the back of the house and were out of earshot.

She launched said bag up the stairs and it hit the ceiling of the second floor before crashing back down to earth on the landing. "There we go." She dusted off her hands, then glanced at Zack. "Ah, crap," she muttered. "They probably won't appreciate having a near-SOLDIER for a daughter."

Zack shrugged. "Let 'em think what they will. I wouldn't have you change."

She smiled briefly at him before turning to walk through a doorway into a small living room/kitchen area. "I know. Oh, but Zack—"

"Yeah?"

"Play it safe and don't bring Devon up. They're still really sensitive about him running away too, since he left first and that was what made me leave. And I know he'd kill us both if we gave it all away and told Mom and Dad where he's been and what he's been doing. So just to be on the safe side…avoid it completely. I know they will."

"Uh. 'Kay?" he blinked, accepting her judgment and following her closely.

"Anyone care for anything?" Chloe chirped, sweeping around the kitchen.

"I'm actually starved—" Diana piped up.

"Here we go…" Zack muttered, sinking down onto the couch in surrender.

"She do this is Gaia-knows-where too?" Delos inquired as if he already knew the answer, taking a chair opposite Zack.

"You mean devour anything and everything in sight on an hourly basis? Pretty much. She's nearly eaten everyone out of house and home, especially Tifa."

"Tifa?" Diana's father asked curiously, raising his eyebrows. "Diana…?"

"Uh. Di?" Zack called to Diana, craning his neck to see her down the hall, rummaging in the pantry.

"Mm-hm?" she poked her head out.

"…Maybe you'd better give your parents the rundown, 'cause I'd most likely say something I'd regret?" he suggested bluntly.

"Oh. Oh, yeah, good point—don't look at me like that, Mom—I'll do that. So—" she plopped down next to Zack, crunching on a handful of pretzels. "—I'll start…uh…hm. Well, first of all, you know why I left." She glanced down at her lap briefly. "I caught a bus to Midgar, and—"

"_You _in the biggest city on the continent?" her father broke in incredulously.

"_Yes_, _me _in the biggest city on the continent," she retorted. "It would take way too long to explain fully, but I met this girl Tifa there. She's my age; she's the martial artist who, uh, runs the bar," she elaborated sheepishly. _Gaia, doesn't that just sound lovely. Let's work on this irresponsibility thing some more, shall we?_ "Basically I've been staying with her. So this one night, I'm out just looking around, and I go by this place where there's this big dinner party event type thingy, and Zack's there, bored out of his mind, and he sees me and asks if I need directions. So that's how I met this one—" she invented, then elbowed him in the ribs at his derisive snort— "and this is where it gets freaky-coincidental. So Zack's kind of been hanging out with this kid named Cloud, right?"

"Cloud?" her mother blinked.

"Yeah, that's his given name, but Spiky works too, you should see his hair." Diana waved a hand. "Crazier than Zack's." The named exhaled loudly, blowing a piece of said hair out of his eyes only to have it flop back into place.

Mr. Loveless was thinking that he hadn't seen his daughter so animated in…months. Mrs. Loveless was wondering what her daughter had been doing all these months to make her so lively and extroverted.

"So I meet Cloud and I mention Tifa offhand, he nearly has a heart attack 'cause it turns out he and Teef were friends when they were kids, they meet each other all over again and obviously become more than friends, et cetera. They're so cute, honestly," she directed at her mother, who could always be counted on to be in great appreciation of such things. She nodded in approval.

"Cloud's still staying with two other guys in an apartment not too far from Tifa's, and Zack's; their names are Max and Shane and they're hilarious. I swear they were, like, really fraternal twins separated at birth or something.

"So essentially for the past three months, I've been hanging out and learning some really cool martial arts things from Tifa—and Zack—and just having _fun_. Really, I've never felt so good," she finished earnestly, looking from her mother to her father and back again.

After a few seconds of info digestion, Chloe spoke. "Well, I'm glad for that, at least. I'm sure you just lost track of time, after all!" she gave a little laugh.

"Wish I could've done that when I was nineteen," Delos smiled. "I went to the university like a good child. Guess you got the rebel gene from someone."

"Da-ad! I'm twenty—didn't you remember?" Diana laughed.

Her father blinked. Then he groaned and buried his face in his hands. "July thirty-first. Dear Gaia, Chlo, we've got a daughter into her third decade of life. What are we going to do?"

"Well, you're certainly old enough to work," her mother pointed out, raising her eyebrows. "Remember how you were one of the last to get your driver's license and get a job because of your late birthday?"

"Child labor laws are really irritating when you've got people on one side of you who won't stop asking you if you're looking at any universities when you're only fifteen!" Diana complained. "Well, problem solved now, I guess."

"Do you do anything, Zack?" Delos turned to his daughter's—foreign word alert—_boyfriend_.

"I do, actually—I've been set on the same line of work since I went to the Academy in Midgar at fourteen. I started officially in the company at nineteen." He leaned back and folded his arms casually, but Diana could tell why he was being elusive.

However, her mother wasn't the brightest at picking up hints and such at bad times, so she asked brightly: "So what company _are _you working in?"

"I…work for Shinra," he stated. He figured it wouldn't do any good to just evade the question, and besides, the eyes would be a dead giveaway soon enough and he'd lose his credibility as an honest guy for Diana to be seeing.

There was a beat of silence.

"That's quite interesting. I'm afraid we don't see a lot of that around here," Delos spoke up.

"Well, isn't that something!" Chloe bubbled. "Aren't there all those divisions, though? Do you work in one of the departments?"

Diana resisted the urge to smack herself on the forehead.

"Actually…I'm with SOLDIER."

Another beat of silence.

"Well, we _really _don't see a lot of that around here," Diana's father raised his eyebrows, suddenly seeming to express no opinion whatsoever. Her mother was simply taking in the information and turning it over and around in her mind.

"Yeah, he's a First Class, Dad. How cool is that?" Diana attempted, nudging Zack again.

"Di…" he muttered; but out of sudden self-consciousness, not a desire to end the conversation topic.

"_First?_" Mr. Loveless' eyes widened slightly. "Goodness."

"That's…the _best_, isn't it?" Mrs. Loveless reentered the conversation, leaning forward slightly.

"Yeah, see why I'm learning from Zack, too?" Diana crossed her arms.

"Why yes, I certainly do…" Her father viewed her boyfriend with new eyes, taking in the carefully contained strength, the ease of movement…the mako eyes.

He noticed none of this in his daughter; or if he did, he didn't even think to connect the same dots.

"Oh, you do have the eyes, don't you?" Diana's mother scrutinized Zack's face, seeking out the glowing indigo depths. "And—my Goddess, Diana—why are yours—"

"Chill, Mom. There isn't enough mako left in my system from twenty years ago to make that much of a difference," Diana commented astutely. "It's just all the reactors in Midgar. It gets everywhere, I guess."

"I still bet you could pull off posing as a SOLDIER," Zack declared, poking her.

She laughed, trying not to make it sounds nervous but probably ruining the effect. "Yeah…whatever you say. They don't let girls in anyhow."

"Hey, where's the bathroom?" he asked suddenly.

"I can show you!" offered Chloe. "Just because the house is small doesn't mean it isn't confusing. Just go right…" She fussed after him as he strode down a hallway.

Diana rolled her eyes at her father and he shrugged. "What, you think things around here have changed just because you have?"

She sighed disparagingly. "Really? Is it that obvious? Jeez, I was kind of hoping to lapse into a nice comfort zone here," she snorted.

"Rethink that idea," Delos responded dryly, raising one eyebrow so that a green eye was clearly revealed. He sighed and shifted in his seat. "You do know your mother's been worrying herself sick—"

"I _know_, Dad," she groaned. "_Trust _me, I know. Don't think it's been easy." Diana barked a short laugh. "Easy. Hah! That's a new one."

"Well, you've been the one wandering around a huge city, doing as you please," Chloe pointed out, coming back into the room.

"Oh, _please! _You really think that's all I've been doing?" she stared at her parents, realizing that they really hadn't picked up on the little things she'd dropped both in her letters and the conversation. They were both giving her that 'disappointed-parent-that's-not-going-to-yell-at-you-only-stare-you-down-until-you-confess-to-at-least-one-thing' look. The one you get once your friend is out of the room so they don't find things quite so awkward.

"Rrgh. Fine. I'll elaborate. For one thing, I've been physically exhausting myself just about every hour of the day for the past three months. Look, Devon always wanted to join SOLDIER, remember? Early on when I was in the city, some guys were bugging Tifa and me. They weren't sober. I was completely defenseless but Teef totally whooped their butts from here to next Tuesday. It's not an _option _for me to be helpless like that! I just can't live! So I've been training my butt off, hanging out with SOLDIERs and seeing the world. A _lot _of the world. Happy now?" She crossed her arms childishly and glared back and forth at her parents.

They were silent for a while. Zack didn't come back yet, whether out of good grace or something else.

"…And you're _okay _with all this SOLDIER business?" her father asked, somewhat sternly. But not disapprovingly.

"Pretty much, yeah. I know most of the world judges them all—trust me, I've had people move to the other side of the street when I was out with Zack—but they're people too. I mean, that's what Dev wanted to be. Right?" She looked at her mother.

"He did," she affirmed quietly. "I just…people aren't all good, Diana, and… I don't know. I guess I just want you to be safe and make good choices. There are a lot of people that don't appreciate anything to do with Shinra. Are you sure about affiliating yourself with these people?"

Diana shook her head. "You're saying it like I'm about to choose. I already have—they're my friends first, and then they have jobs to do second. They do good things, you know. I went with Cloud once on a monster extermination mission he had to do in Sector Three—"

"Ex-_cuse _me—?" her father spluttered.

She waved a hand. "But that's my point, Dad! What if I'm all alone and, I don't know, a random monster attacks me? Isn't it better to be able to fight off a horde of Black Bats? Which, by the way, totally sucks. SOLDIERs do good things for people, besides fighting the wars. You should hear Zack's mentor's speech about honor—it takes years to shut him up. They're only human, and they save people. I know for a fact that Zack's saved my life before, and so has Angeal, and Cloud, and probably Max and Shane and maybe Genesis…" She ticked her friends off on her fingers, trailing off.

"…And she's probably done so in return. I know that's my case." Zack emerged suddenly without a sound, and she knew he'd heard the whole conversation.

Her parents were pretty speechless by this point, as a result of her tirade, the points she made, and the emotions she was conveying. They hadn't seen their daughter this worked up in a long time.

"Wait…Angeal? Genesis?" Mr. Loveless' voice finally broke through the fog of silence. "You're kidding, right?" He looked at his wife. "Now she's friends with _three _Firsts? This is so unfair! You're getting around more than I have in my entire life!" he whined in a very Diana-like manner, flopping back into his chair in defeat.

Diana herself laughed in relief and grabbed Zack's hand without looking to drag him back down onto the couch. He yelped in surprise and thudded down heavily, shooting her a look out of the corners of his eyes but having it wasted. "Yeah, but you know how Genesis has this weird obsession with the play _Loveless_? Think how inconvenient my life became when he figured out my last name!" she complained.

"You've been hanging around _Genesis Rhapsodos?_" her mother fairly yelled.

"Gaia, Mom, how many Genesises—Geneses?—can there possibly be on this planet—?"

"_And you don't have a signature or anything?_"

"Mom! He's my friend, would that make any sense at all—? Ask Zack, _he's _the friggin' First Class here!" She all but scrambled backward frantically, at least as well as she could while sitting down, to get farther away from her mother's bursting energy.

"Here we go…" Mr. Loveless muttered. Zack suppressed a chuckle at his remark. He liked Diana's dad. He wasn't particularly open about his feelings, and sometimes it just seemed like he was annoyed, but he really was chill about most things. So far, anyway.

"Zack, dear. Are you friends with these men as well?" Chloe was descending on the poor boy.

"Uh. Yes? I mean, Angeal's been my mentor since I joined SOLDIER, so I guess he's kind of like my older brother. Genesis and Sephiroth are like my crazy uncles, or cousins, or something." Zack looked a bit weirded out, but the only was Diana could tell was because the corner of his mouth was twitching and he wasn't fidgeting like he usually did. She had picked up on that habit of constant movement as well, concluding that it was her SOLDIER reflexes talking.

She subtly shifted away from him, as her mother was standing smack in front of him, in full interrogation mode. He glanced at her with the HELP look, but she looked at the ceiling pointedly and hummed under her breath.

"Jeez, Mom," she muttered, escaping to stand by her father. "RFS much?"

Delos looked up, on the verge of laughter. "RFS?"

"Rabid Fangirl Syndrome."

He sputtered a laugh and forced it back down with some effort, coughing slightly as he looked back at Zack, who was now visibly freaked out by something Chloe had just asked him.

"He really is a good-looking boy," he remarked to his daughter, who was dragging a stool over.

"I know," she grinned shamelessly. "I'm lucky."

Her father paused before his next question, and Diana prayed that it wasn't the worse case scenario: the most awkward parent question of all time. It wasn't. …Yet. "How much does he know?" he asked in a lowered voice.

"Almost everything. He knows I lost someone really close to me, but I definitely don't think he's guessed the truth. Look, don't…just don't bring Devon up. I've tried not to mention a brother, but if I have let something slip, I'm guessing that Zack assumes that he's still living. Just…don't mention Dev, okay?" Her father considered, then nodded mutely. "He knows about the genetic engineering, too—I landed myself in the hospital wing at Shinra once and I had to explain the traces of mako in my bloodstream. Although—" here she looked at him sharply— "I didn't even know that, until my friend, one of the doctors, pointed it out. I guessed the truth, and Gaia, am I glad that jerk Hojo is _dead_," she growled.

"Oh…well, that's true…honestly, your mother and I didn't even know half the things that went on with you and Devon. We were so stupid…" he passed a hand over his eyes, and his expression cleared for a second until his brow wrinkled again. "Hang on. 'Hospital wing'?" He gave her the look that was demanding confession again.

"Well, see…" She thought for a minute about a legitimate story that Zack could back up. Dammit, could they talk about something else so she didn't have to lie through her teeth? Being two people was even worse when you were out of your environment! "There was this break-in type thing at Shinra, and I was hanging around there because that's where Tifa has a second apartment—she does beginning martial arts training for the cadets. So what happened was…well, _Zack_, you explain!"

"Huh?" The ebony spiked head appeared gratefully around the side of Mrs. Loveless' figure. "What's that?" He looked rapidly from person to person pleadingly.

"What happened the day of the attack on HQ," Diana elaborated. "Care to explain?"

"Sure, why not, it's a good story…but why?" He cocked his head to the side.

"Dad wants to know how I ended up in the hospital after that."

"Wha-at?" he blinked. "You did?"

She blew out a breath exasperatedly. "Yes, Tifa made me go, but only for a couple minutes. Anyhow, so, that morning, I'd been staying at Tifa's—" she shot a look filled with significance at him— "and heard the alarm go off, and I ran into you in the hallway…"

"Oh—oh, yeah, right!" He caught on, taking up the story in true Zack style. "So we've got absolutely no clue what's going on when I get a call from Angeal telling me to get myself outside to help, because there's a Wutaian invasion going on." He spread his hands. "Whaddaya know. And this one," he pointed accusingly at Diana, "is refusing to get left behind, so I'm thinking, okay, I'll have to look out for her; is she insane?" This earned him an affirmative half-shrug from Delos. "We almost run straight into eight soldiers, though, and she's starting to freak me out 'cause she's dressed all ninja-style and everything. Before she even tells me what's going on, she runs straight into the middle of them, pulls some crazy scheme that involves tricking them, and takes out all eight in, like, ten seconds flat." He stopped for effect, also because Diana's parents were gaping at her in disbelief as she muttered self-consciously to herself.

"We finally come across the main battlefield, and boy, is it a mess, and Zack's telling me to stay back," she continued, trying to sway their attention back to her boyfriend.

"Good idea," her mother nodded. "Nice move."

"Well, it would've been, if I'd paid attention to him!" Diana snorted. "I run in there after him, of course, figuring I can help for real instead of just running around uselessly, beating random people up. That never seems to work well, you know? Next thing I know, I see this _machine _of a guy kicking total butt in the middle of everything." She raised her eyebrows at Zack, and it was his turn to be self-conscious. "Then I see this rooftop sniper and I'm like, oh crap, this can't be good, and he's aiming for Zack. So—"

"—She _tackles _me," Zack snorted loudly. "thereby saving my life at least once, and all of a sudden she's gone again while I'm trying to figure out what's going on and why no alarm was raised except at the very last second. Meanwhile—"

"—I'm off to find someone who knows these things, and I see Genesis and Angeal so I run up to help them out, and Angeal says that all he needs is a diversion. I'm sure he was just thinking out loud, but I had to help somehow, you know? Then—"

"—Next thing I know, I see her picking up this huge sword off the ground and going to town with the thing! And can I just say, please keep any and all explosives away from your child at all costs?" Zack gestured wildly.

Diana interrupted pointedly. "Well, by this time, all these hellhounds that the Wutaians have summoned into the mix are running around, so long story short, the two of us take on three of the monsters, engage in an epic battle, blah blah blah, I get like half a wall exploded on top of me…so I had to go to the hospital wing for nearly-broken ribs and a scratch on my arm." She sat back, satisfied.

"_Scratch_, she says," Zack snorted.

"Zack! Rule number one: don't alarm the parental units!" she hissed, but the damage was done.

"What? How bad was it? Let me see," Mrs. Loveless began rattling off.

"Fine, Mom, fine. Look, it was here, happy?" Diana sighed and unzipped her sweatshirt, then pushed up the sleeve of her t-shirt to reveal the thin scars that were all that remained of the triple gashes that had been sliced into her arm.

"Dear Gaia, no, I'm not happy!" her mother exclaimed. "What if it had been worse? That looks bad enough as it is! What if you'd lost your arm? What if—"

"Mom. _Mom_. For one thing, that's a bit of a stretch. And I already said, I made my choice to be involved in all this a long time ago," Diana declared firmly, staring her mother down. "Besides, I've got Zack there to save my hide. If not him, then there's always someone to back me up. I have to live for myself, okay?"

"You really have changed," Mrs. Loveless said quietly after a moment. "Oh! Del, look at the time, aren't we supposed to be…? Oh." She looked at Diana, who was sitting with an inquisitive expression on her face. "We're supposed to be at a dinner party in fifteen minutes; that's why I'm changed and your father isn't," she explained.

"I'm going, I'm going," Mr. Loveless sighed, getting up and making for the stairs.

"Go fast!" his wife yelled after him, then turned back to Diana and Zack apologetically.

"Don't worry about us; I'll just show Zack around town. We'll find something to do, I'm sure," Diana assured her before she could say anything.

"…Well, then, I suppose that's fine. We're going to be at my sister's place."

Diana sighed. "Which one, Mom? You have three. I'm still not a mind reader, you know."

"Oh, silly me—Lizzie's, of course."

"Of course," she muttered. Aunt Lizzie always was the social butterfly hosting all the parties. "Okay. And Dad's looking for a blue tie. Seen one?"

Chloe looked at her daughter in confusion for a second, then her husband's voice drifted down from the upstairs. "Chloe! Have you seen my blue tie?"

"It's on the chair by the window!" she called back, rolling her eyes at her daughter. "How'd you hear him muttering from down here?" she then demanded.

Zack was thinking that more mako might still be active in Diana's system than she realized, based on how much he could hear in comparison to her. He said so, and Diana shrugged, deeming it possible. Chloe didn't 'get the sciencey reference' and yelled at her husband again to get his butt downstairs.

Two minutes later, the Loveless parents were stepping out the door amidst calls of 'have fun' and 'thanks, Mr. and Mrs. L.'.

"Well, first thing, I'm gonna change. I always feel gross after traveling." Diana wrinkled her nose and carried the last of her bags upstairs, giving Zack free rein of the kitchen.

A minute later, she came back downstairs, where Zack was peering at a massive picture frame on the wall in the entryway.

"Oh, yeah," she laughed. "Family portrait. Like, _whole _family." There were so many people that it was nearly impossible to find someone specific.

She had to deter him from that somehow, though, or things could get messy… "Ramen," Diana declared after a second.

"Absolutely," Zack agreed. "To the ramen!" On an impulse, he swiftly picked Diana up and sped into the kitchen, setting her down on the counter.

"I've got legs, you know," she snorted, hitting her heels against the drawers beneath her.

"Oh, I _know _you do." He looked at her mischievously, then did a double take. "Wow, you're wearing, like…I dunno. Real clothes?" He waved a hand up and down, indicating her appearance.

It was true. 'Everyday clothes' had taken on a different meaning in Midgar, and here, she was more comfortable in a pair of fitted jeans and a tank top. Today, her hair was loosely curly, and (two minutes ago, at least) her eyes were green.

She stuck her tongue out at him and began swinging her feet again. "I guess so. I mean, it's kind of different here, you know?"

"Yeah, guess you're right," he shrugged. He was wearing jeans as well and a gray shirt that made his eyes stand out even more starkly through the fringe of his raven hair.

Zack then got one of those puppy-like sudden urges of mischief, and he grabbed Diana's ankles as they swung towards him. She made a noise in protest, which turned into her version of a squeak as he pulled slightly.

She gripped the edge of the counter. "Agh! Zack—"

"Don't fall!" he grinned, pulling her farther towards the edge.

She started laughing, now engaging in a tug-of-war to keep her backside on the countertop. "Zack, I'm gonna fall—"

"Whoops!" He yanked hard and she flew off the counter with an exclamation, but instead of crashing to the ground in extreme discomfort (something she had in fact experienced before) she somehow found herself in his arms.

"Saved ya," he smirked impishly.

"Cheater," she muttered before turning her face up to kiss him full on the mouth. He half chuckled in victory and responded with all due enthusiasm. Diana took a second—okay, longer than that—to appreciate again how good of a kisser he was, and Zack took a moment to appreciate the lack of the threat of unwelcome interruptions in the house at the moment.

**A/N: Hometown time! Haha. We're gonna be stickign around Kalm for a couple chapters yet. Important things need to take place! :D So I hope you liked it, and I also hope you read my little inset about the family names, 'cause personally I'm pretty proud of myself :P Also hopefully you didn't get too confused by all the discrepencies in the stories that Diana tells, because obviously she had to modify some things for her own purposes. I'm semi-coherent right now, at almost midnight, so goodnight, thanks for reading, and review please! :)**


	32. Brick Walls and Perfect Spheres

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: No claims stolen, vandalized, created, forged, eaten, found, captured, or otherwise acquired. **

**A/N: Again with the apologies! DX Yes, I am aware that it has been eleven days -.- soon to be twelve. In approximately... six minutes. I got home from my first legit babysitting job an hour ago. But that's beside the point. See, I did actually intend to update on Sunday. Then I had no time due to the fact that I was at my church essentially all day for various reasons, Monday was terrible, Tuesday I was exhausted again, Wednesday night I slept over at Ultimate's house (couch/bed/pillow/mosh pit=wins and lols) and had no internet there, had no time Thursday even though there was no school, and, well, here I am, now two minutes to midnight. Wows... But I've edited this one pretty much to death, so hopefully it's well-written *town hall bell dings twelve times in the background*-Yeah, we got it, now stop mocking me!- and hopefully you enjoy the following events. Not too many crazy stunts, but you reencounter someone (cue the temporary angst), meet someone new :) and, oh yeah, have I mentioned the several makeout scenes? Such is the product of the mind of a teenage girl...whaddaya gonna do.**

**But can I just say something: TEN REVIEWS last chapter :DDDDDD that's like twice my normal, I try to go for at least one per thousand words, which seems to be working out pretty well so far :) But TEN! AAAAHH! And now I shall do responses. Especially to our newest followers!**

**Shatter: Yay Halloween ^^ othanks. Haha, yes, the parental units meet the Puppy...knew it was gonna happen eventually. And hello, yes, can we say 'jack-ass' _again_? He's a real wonderful guy -_- I can't believe I even created such a jerk. But anyways, you see why Diana hasn't exactly dated much. And that flashback from when she was in Seventh Heaven to when she was fifteen should make more sense :) And her parents! XD They were SO much fun to make up. Like, you have no idea. Her dad is pretty much the ultimate chill dad with a really odd sense of humor, and her mom, well...sometimes she just thinks she's twenty years younger. What can I say. (Btw, did you find that random paragraph explaining the names helpful? I thought it was a nice touch, 'cause I'm into symbolism and all that, and stuff has meaning and is kind of really cool to think about if you have it explained. No one brought it up so I wondered...) Why yes. It shall be all-out epicness to the max. Gracias, and NOM oh hey thanks :) (Dude, I just started giggling to myself evilly at the thought of the extreme epicness, and now the voices are telling me that I've officially creeped them out this time.) XD**

**Chostani-san: Thanks! Oh, it shall get _very_ confusing at times. I feel sorry for her and I'm the one implementing the torture :/ And yay for fluff! :D You'll appreciate this one, trust me ^^**

**Sarah: Yes, more than a bit complicated, methinks. Poor Di. D: Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**LoveTheCrazy: HAHAHA YAYYYYYY! :D Lol, thanks for that. You made me laugh ^^**

**Sayonara: Yeah, it was oddly normal... Wow, I love how that's a novelty. I do miss the mischief a bit...but we gotta get through a lot of this kind of stuff first. Well now, define _'shocking'_... Haha well dramatic things will happen soon enough, nothing massively hugely majorly impacting us but, well, you shall see...O.o**

**Shadow: Thanks for reading PLUS the ever-happiness-inducing review! ;P**

**Angeli: Oho, well, that's just the problem, now isn't it? I'm gonna be a tiny bit of a spoiler and say HE'S BACK this chapter! You'll just have to see what exactly he does... And, hello. Zack IS the dream man. Really. Who would not agree. I'm trying to come up with character flaws for him, actually, 'cause everyone has to have their problems and everything, and it's kinda depressing. Not gonna lie. But yes, goofball+adorable+SOLDIER+dead sexy=Zack=freakin' amazing. And aww, thanks ^^ Took me a second to work that one out (gee, can ya tell I'm not functioning right now?) but thank you mucho :)**

**Hazuki: NEW REVIEWER! *dingdingding* WELCOME TO THE MADHOUSE! Ahem. AnYwAyS, now that my insanity has been established, I would like to thank you for either the time you took to read alllll 31 chapters up to this point, or review for the first time, or both ^^ Either way, I appreciate it a lot, and I'm really glad you like my story so much :) Hugs! xD**

**rosewhip: ANOTHER NEW REVIEWER! :D Glad to see you've joined the ride as well! Ahem, about that whole...updating...business... But here it is! :D Thanks for the review!**

**LadyShinkukaze: AND ANOTHER ONE! Thanks for putting up with all this insanity. Tenth reviewer for chapter 31! :D Awesomenessss...! Thanks for reviewing, and here be your update :)**

**ONWARDS!**

**Chapter 32: Brick Walls and Perfect Spheres**

Twenty minutes later, ramen finally made with minimal difficulty and eaten with no difficulty at all, the two decided to go and have a look around town after all.

"Remember the first time I met you, we were standing right here?" Zack laughed, indicating the doorway.

"Yeah, and you started flirting shamelessly while Angeal stood by laughing?" Diana snorted.

"It's a gift."

"No kidding. Then remember when I met you for real, during that party thing at Shinra?"

"You mean when you ran away from everyone?"

"I did not run away, I was simply…vacating the premises with extreme stealth and caution!"

"Mm-hm. Okay. Sure. Whatever you say."

"Well, if I hadn't, you wouldn't've stalked me, and we wouldn't have this to reminisce about!" she pointed out.

"I _followed _you because you're beautiful—I did not 'stalk' you," Zack declared haughtily.

"Oh, stoppit, you." Diana shoved him playfully as they stepped off the porch and onto the cobblestone street. Of course, he didn't budge more than a few inches, and laughed, shoving one hand into his pocket. He took the other hand and interlaced his fingers with Diana's.

She looked down in surprise, a faint blush coloring the edges of her cheeks, and looked up at Zack, taken a little off guard. "Zack…"

He gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I figure this is one of those things that you get out in the open ASAP. Why not just go and make it obvious?"

She sighed and figured he was right. It was just that she didn't want someone recognizing him, because that could just cause some unnecessary hassle, never mind whether they were anti-Shinra or what, and she told him so.

"No one's gonna know who I am," he scoffed. "Besides, it'll be dark-ish soon. Twilight's the hardest time of day or night to see at," he reminded her. "Trust me."

"Oh, I know," she confirmed dryly. _Trust me._ She remembered so, and quite clearly. Zack's lack of attention span and the difficult light was what had caused her to save his life the very first time. Except that technically she was supposed to have been Devon. But whatever.

A few minutes later, her danger radar went off again. Nothing lethal was at hand—no, just some extreme inconvenience. "Well, looks like I'm not getting out of this one," she muttered, staring straight ahead.

"Huh?" Zack looked at her.

"Just act like nothing's different. Hang on about ten seconds and you'll figure it out," she said, unusually grim.

A few seconds passed, and Zack heard the faintest sound, at which Diana spoke. "Okay, so, a score of zero for stealth; zero for subtlety; zero for ability to leave things alone; so that makes for a total of, oh yeah—" She turned on the spot to plant her free hand on her hip and face the dark silhouette that had frozen in its tracks— "_zero_. Must be Sam. What do you think you're doing?" she demanded sharply.

Zack resisted the urge to flinch. He really wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that… To an outsider with no context, it might seem like his girlfriend was just being a bitch, but Zack knew better. From a combination of Diana's earlier comments, the guy's attitude, and Zack's own personal intuition (which normally made him a pretty good judge of character) he had decided that Diana's words and actions were sufficiently justified. Maybe now he'd find out more about why she hated this guy so much.

"I just wanna talk—no reason to bite my head off," scoffed the guy. What was his name, again? 'S'-something, Zack decided. He really was pretty pathetic with names. And listening. And paying attention. Hey, they didn't call him Puppy for nothing.

"Fine then. Start talking, Samuel," Diana invited, looking straight through him like she was trying to see his next thought in his head before it came out.

"…Well, for one thing, why are you here all cheerful-like after spending one month unresponsive and three missing?" His tone wasn't worried, or even inquisitive—only of feigned politeness, as seemed to be the usual.

She shrugged coolly. "I left to start my life again. So that's what I did. Saw the world. Met some people. Worked out pretty well, actually."

The ghost of a smile passed over Zack's face, and he immediately cursed his naturally open emotions when the other guy seemed to notice.

"Oh, yeah? Well, why couldn't you do stuff like that here?" he questioned.

"Clearly there isn't much variety to be had around here. Notice the 'see the world and meet new people' part of that."

"You could've stayed here with _me_," he elaborated.

"And why in the hell would I want to so much as consider that?" _Brrr_, thought Zack.

"We did okay, just hit a few rough spots—"

At this Diana gave a disbelieving snort, and cut him off disdainfully. "You mean you were a selfish asshole who tried to completely control me before you actually pushed me down, and I realized I had to get back up and beat you down instead—"

But he kept going, cutting her off presumptuously. "—And then you had to go into a doom despair and depression phase, then you were gone all of a sudden, off on a little field trip!"

She slowly looked back to him from where her gaze had wandered out of frustrated boredom. The look in her eyes spelled 'serial killer.' They had gone dark gray, tending towards inky black.

"_'Depression phase'_?" she asked. "Depression _phase_?" She let go of Zack's hand to take two quick strides toward Samuel. "Do you have any _idea_?"

"About what?" he asked blankly, doing nothing more than raising his eyebrows slightly at her temper.

"You call it a _phase _of _depression_? You have no clue what happened, really, do you?" she challenged him.

"…Uh—" Yeah. He was abruptly losing ground, fast. Apparently, shallow thoughts were pretty much all that entered his head, and he really didn't consider consequences, nor implications.

"You _know _he's dead," she hissed in his face. "He is DEAD. Do you know what it's like to have to run and leave a member of your _family _behind to _save yourself_? Have you heard their screams as you ran to save your own life? Have you worn a scar for months that reminds you _every day_ of what they sacrificed themselves to preserve?"

Again, the blatant fact that he had not considered his words at all before he spoke was highlighted. His mind worked in a simple way: he took information and put it into a neat sequence of events, not really considering the emotions or motives behind anything. It was like putting someone on trial for murder without looking at the fact that the accused had killed the victim by accident after first being attacked. Zack had heard of a case like that once. And then, suddenly, the obvious was thrown into relief and the accusers were rudely awakened from their ignorant fantasies that they were in the right.

"Have you then been _questioned _by heartless people as to having a hand in that person's mysteriously sudden death? Have you ever had to go on, living in the same house where they'd walked a million times before, breathing the same air while their breath is gone, seeing the same people but with the most important one _gone_? _Forever_?"

He looked stricken all of a sudden, and slightly sick. She kept going. She wasn't going to stop here.

Her eyes snapped a dark, eerie charcoal-burgundy. "I needed a 'field trip' to get the hell out of my _own head_!" she said in a dangerously low voice. "Don't think it's been just that, either—I've seen more of life and death in the past three months than you can ever comprehend. Have you ever watched someone _die_?" she demanded in his face. "Have you ever flung yourself in front of someone else to save them, not even considering that you yourself might die?"

Zack hadn't realized something himself. Diana had been so _innocent_. From what he could tell about her life prior to her going to Midgar, and by the reactions of those who noticed the changes in her…she had been almost sheltered. She hadn't lost much at all—had known only the happier parts of life, surrounded by friends and family. She hadn't been naïve or gullible, per se, but her sphere of the world had been contained in pure wholeness; unbroken, flawless except for the occasional blemish. She had matured since that point in her life—but how much had it cost her to have her innocence be suddenly ripped away from her in the one event that everyone has had a nightmare about at one time or another?

"Have you ever been part of a _real _monster attack? …Have you ever found your reason for living and carrying on in this world?

_That's _what I've been doing with my life."

And she turned back to Zack, who suddenly seemed like so much more than merely a boyfriend, entwined her hand with his again, and paced quickly away, not taking a second glance back to see the expression of shock frozen on the young man's face that was threatening to turn sickened.

"I can't believe I just said all that," she whispered a moment later. Zack (wisely) had waited for her to speak first.

"No one should have to," he murmured back. "Or have the reason to."

She coughed slightly and leaned into his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close as they walked in silence.

* * *

"So that's the gates again?" Zack raised an eyebrow. "Gaia, it really is as small as Gongaga."

"Told you," she chuckled. After a while and some healthy conversation, she was back to her normal demeanor. "Have I mentioned lately how much I need you?" she mused suddenly. "And did I just say that out loud?" she nervously half-laughed.

"No, I don't believe you have, and yes, you did." Zack snorted, looking at her to see green eyes glow faintly back at him through the partial darkness.

"Heh. Guess so. Well, I'm saying it now," she declared matter-of-factly. "Honestly. What would I do without you?" she grinned warmly.

"Not much, _that _I can say," Zack stated assertively, tugging on Diana's hand gently.

"Good answer. It's true, too," Diana laughed, pulling herself closer to him. "I love you, Zack Fair," she whispered, half out of amazement. It still sounded kind of out of place, saying that. Not wrong, just…unfamiliar. Closing herself off from a fairly substantial range of emotion in the world would do that.

"I know," he grinned. "I just wanted to be sure you knew it, too. I love you, Diana Loveless." He leaned forward, one hand on her waist, to kiss her passionately.

She leaned into it, feeling like her heart was pounding its way out of her chest. She was sure Zack could feel it, as close as they were. All of a sudden, she had to take a fraction of a step backwards to keep her (naturally) precarious balance, and she somehow (naturally) tripped backwards, letting out a little noise of surprise.

Of course, Zack was there to catch her, and instead of slamming into the brick wall behind her, she simply felt it against her back a second later. _Born strategist, huh? Two can play at that game._

So she brought her hands to his chest, pushing firmly but following closely, and he backed up in surprise. At least, he tried to back up. But Diana planted a foot and spun him right around so he was in her previous place against the wall. She winked at him before latching on to him again, one hand getting tangled in his raven hair. For a moment, she thought she must suffocate, he was holding her so tightly. But it was somehow a good feeling, because that was the only kind of feeling she got around Zack. As his mouth moved against hers and she breathed in his smell, she realized just how true it really was.

The brick was cold and hard and rough, but Zack was warm and gentle and pleasantly solid to hold. Diana fit nicely against him, and he somehow seemed to keep pulling her in closer to him. And she felt perfectly in sync with the world, completely at peace, and flawlessly _right_, and it was all real.

So this was what it was like to fall in love.

* * *

Diana couldn't stay asleep. This was a highly unsettling development, usually seeing as how once she was out, she was _out_.

She kept turning over in her old bed, trying to figure out how best to get to sleep, but nothing was working. It was strange to be back here, in her own bed. Not to mention Zack's presence down the hall in the guest room. If she listened, she could hear him breathing, and she wondered if he was awake and listening to her, too.

Finally, after falling asleep for half an hour at a time only to reawaken wide awake and alert several times in a row, she decided to get up and solve this problem. It was just after one-thirty A.M., and she made for the kitchen. Cookies were always the answer.

The air had turned almost uncomfortably humid in the night, so she was wearing only an oversized t-shirt that fell to halfway down her thighs over her underwear. It wasn't like she was going anywhere, she thought logically.

So after moving through the house nearly silently, she sat on the kitchen counter, indulging in a few of her mother's chocolate chip cookies. When she heard a floorboard creak upstairs a few moments later, she stopped chewing and listened. Realizing it was probably only her father, as they ran on similar sleep schedules, she shrugged and crossed the floor to get a glass from a cupboard. When she came back to the sink, he was already downstairs and coming up to the doorway as she turned around to ask why he was still up.

But it wasn't her father. No, it was Zack.

She blinked at him and was about to open her mouth to ask the question anyway, but then she saw his eyes flick to her bottoms or lack thereof, and she clamped down on it. "I didn't figure I'd have an audience," she defended herself, trying not to stare at him at the same time.

He shook his head and smiled. "Neither did I, honestly." He wasn't wearing a shirt.

_Really?_ Diana thought hopelessly. _Most girls would kill for this view, yet here I am trying not to stare? _She just gave a slightly nervous laugh and went back to chugging down more water.

"So what's your story?" he inquired.

She shrugged, swallowing. "Guess it's just weird to be back. You know, like everything is exactly as how you left it and you're the one that's changed. Although I guess that's kinda pretty true." She supported herself against the counter as Zack folded his (muscular) arms over his (bare) chest and leaned on the opposite wall, which wasn't all that far away, considering the small size of the house in general. "And maybe…I think I just can't get that jerk's words out of my head." She shook it as if to expel the thoughts through her ears if she shook hard enough. "I know none of it was true, but you know how something will just bug you like that."

"Oh, yeah. I know," he raised his eyebrows. "It bugs you because you know it can't be true, but you're bothered by the fact that it could be, not that it might be."

"Exactly," she groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Couldn't've said it better."

He contemplated her for a moment, then held out his arms to her. "Come here?"

She obliged all too willingly, burying her face in his bare shoulder and his smell drifting over her. He ran a hand through her hair slowly, making her tingle all over.

_Wow, middle of the night and here we are clinging to each other in my kitchen and oh my Goddess he isn't wearing a shirt and—_ "I'm not wearing pants," she stated out loud.

Zack paused and then began to shake with laughter. "Well, I'm not wearing a shirt. So it's okay. Between the two of us, we make a whole person."

"True," she agreed, and just stood there for another moment, enjoying the proximity and ignoring the weirdness; taking pleasure in the moment.

After a minute, Zack was the first to speak. "Goddess above," he muttered. "All you do is stand there, and you drive me crazy?"

"Huh?" she blinked in a rare state of confusion and looked up to find Zack's mouth being pressed to hers. _Oh. All right, then. That's good with me. _She kissed him back heatedly but eventually had to come up for air. Zack leaned his forehead against hers and suggested that maybe he'd be able to sleep better now. Diana conceded and said goodnight for real at the top of the stairs.

She slept after that, all the way until 1026 hours the next morning. At that time…well…

* * *

Zack was already downstairs, an infuriatingly early riser when he had a good reason (and fully clothed this time). He was engaging in perfectly natural and pleasant conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Loveless, until Chloe scoffed that her daughter really did need to learn to get up in the morning. She was twenty, for Gaia's sake. Delos agreed, somewhat halfheartedly, as he knew exactly where his daughter got her genes. His son had been just like his wife, in exchange, which was a terrifying enough prospect…yet the twins had been closer than anyone could imagine two siblings to be.

"I never know how to wake her up—she just always used to get so _angry _at whatever woke her up," Chloe tittered.

Zack groaned in affirmation. "I've heard many stories from Tifa," he elucidated at Mr. Loveless' inquiring look. _Well. That seemed really unnecessarily sketchy, right there. Way, to go, Tourette's of the vocal chords. _"Want me to do the honors? I think I've got how to do it successfully."

Delos shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee in a manner that was strongly reminiscent of Angeal. "Be my guest. I'd rather not lose a limb this morning. Best of luck."

"Oh boy," Zack muttered as he cautiously made his way up the stairs, not forgetting that time when he had gone to Tifa's looking for Dev, only to be informed that his friend's sister was in the back room. He had walked in, only to be attacked by said sister, and then asked her out minutes later… He chuckled to himself, inching her door open carefully. It didn't squeak.

"Oh." There was a large lump under the covers, moving up and down rhythmically in the distinct breathing pattern of a sleeping person. "Well, that's kind of a relief."

Looking out for booby traps (hey, you never knew with this one) he made his way over to the side of the bed that Diana was facing, as she was stretched out diagonally across the middle of the double-sized mattress. He sat down gingerly, so as not to wake her immediately. She didn't even stir.

Okay, she was definitely not faking sleep. No one could mimic it that well, not even her. Goddess, she was a cute sleeper. She looked a lot younger and more vulnerable. Her forehead was relaxed and there were no lines of stress or anger showing, kind of like when she laughed. Her lips were slightly parted, and formed just the ghost of a smile.

"I wish you knew what you really look like," he murmured quietly, more to himself than to her.

She actually mumbled in response, shifting slightly under the immense mound of blankets. Zack blinked, then a smirk reached his face and he decided to have a little fun.

"Diana…" he whispered, leaning down next to her to kneel on the floor. She mumbled again.

"I want to ask you a question."

"Mmmm…wha…?" Words were partially formed this time. She had recognized Zack's voice from somewhere deep in the corridors of unconsciousness, and was paying slightly more attention in her state of limited awareness.

"Can you answer me?" He folded his arms on the edge of the mattress, close to where one of her hands emerged from the tangle of sheets to rest, half curled, by her face.

"Yeahh…" she sighed, half smiling softly.

"Okay. Do you love me?" he grinned, putting his head down on his hands, only inches from her face.

"Wha…? Yeah. Yeah…I do…" she hummed contentedly, her eyelids fluttering slightly.

"How much?" he asked, smiling wider with the result of his little experiment.

"I…dunno. A…a lot? A _lot _a lot," she apparently decided, her brow momentarily wrinkling with the question.

"Oh yeah?" he whispered, getting even closer.

"Uh-huh…hm?" She felt the barest whisper of his breath on her face, and her eyes suddenly snapped open.

She didn't attack him, though, much to his relief.

She blinked twice. "Zack?"

"Yeah?"

Diana regarded him with suspicion. He was grinning like he had just won an argument in some clever way, and she had known him long enough to be able to say that that was not a safe look for him to be wearing. Put that together with the fact that he was about ten inches away from her face and she got a bit confused.

"Zack, what'd you do. And I know you're about to go all 'innocent Puppy' on me, so don't try, it isn't going to work…"

He turned the Puppy eyes on all the same. "Are you aware that you talk in your sleep?" he asked innocently.

She groaned and dove back under the covers. "Now that's embarrassing." She abruptly remembered their little late-night encounter and blushed slightly, out of view. "What'd I say?" she finally asked, her voice muffled.

"I dunno," came the infuriating reply.

She sighed heavily. Then she exploded out from under the heap of covers, flinging some over Zack's head, and headed for the bathroom before her body could protest that it wanted to keep sleeping. She closed the door, sticking out her tongue, on Zack's chuckles, and turned to the sink to splash her face with cold water. It actually felt really good, seeing as how the night had turned warm—she remembered her lack of pants, and looked down before smacking a hand over her eyes despairingly—and she had been a bit on the hot side when she had woken up. She hated feeling gross in the morning, so she combed out her tangled but mercifully straight hair and brushed her teeth with about twice the necessary amount of toothpaste.

Finally emerging and not exactly ready to face her boyfriend again minus her pants, she found him sitting on the edge of her bed in a childlike manner. She rolled her eyes and grabbed a pair of sweats off a chair (her clothes were always all over the place) yanking them on as Zack visibly tried to hold down laughter at her efforts. Mako or not, she didn't have any balance to speak of in the morning, and she kept listing severely to the right and stumbling on the huge, baggy pant legs.

"So what did I say?" she asked as she tied the drawstrings.

"Oh, you know…just _stuff_."

She fixed him with a look. "Honestly? Come on, Zack Fair, you can do better than that."

"Well, you're gonna hafta get it outta me somehow," he shrugged, standing up with his hands in his pockets.

Diana turned to him, clothing finally fully intact. "Oh, yeah? And just how do I do that?" she raised her eyebrows.

"I dunno. Get creative," he suggested insolently.

A grin made its way across her face, and she slowly walked up to the waiting Zack. She stood up on her tiptoes and wound her arms around his neck, pressing up against him tightly. She began to play with his hair, twisting it around her fingers slowly, as she asked, "Gonna tell me now?"

He spoke confidently, even though his nerves were going haywire. "Maybe… I talked to you and you talked back?"

"Uh-huh? And what did I tell you?" she whispered at his ear, sending chills down his spine. Gaia damn it, _she _was the one making _him _lose his train of thought, Zack thought indignantly.

"…Um—" But he was cut off by the mouth that was warm on his. He went with it, not about to complain, and it ended all too soon.

"You said you loved me a lot," he nearly gasped when he had air.

She cocked her head to the side. "Well, would you look at that." She pressed another kiss to his mouth before releasing him and declaring that it was time for breakfast.

"Oh, no you don't," he grinned evilly, blocking the stairway. "Hold on just a minute."

She contemplated him, hands on hips, for a moment, then shrugged. His sorry SOLDIER ass would survive. Survive what, you ask? Well now.

She crashed past him, or at least tried to, before he blocked her way. However, he wasn't the brightest at times, and forgot how forceful her tackles were. So in the end, the two just ended up rolling and smashing and bumping down the stairs, collapsing in laughter by the end.

* * *

"How is it that everyone knows you?" Zack complained as the two walked down the street yet again. Diana had informed her parents that she was going to take Zack on a day tour, including a trek up the mountain. Yes, _that _mountain. Her parents had given her worried looks at this declaration, unnoticed by Zack, but she had reassured them that she would be fine. Of course, between her and Zack, there was no threat up there that could actually take them on. (Except maybe, like, an insane Sephiroth armed with Masamune and some flaming paraphernalia. But that was both an illogical and highly unlikely possibility.) Diana was only betting on her ability to keep her emotions under control. She didn't know how she would react to being back to that place up the mountain…but that was for later. Now, she just had to get her and Zack through town alive.

Diana was glancing around absently, taking in random snapshots of the sights around her hometown, when she did a double take back to the somewhat odd expression on Zack's face. "What."

His eyes shot back to hers from some undisclosed location. "What what?"

"You're giving me a Look."

"A Look?"

"Yeah, a Look. One of Those Looks where I don't know what you're thinking."

"Those Looks?"

"Isn't that what I just said? What are you staring at me for?"

"Apart from the obvious?"

"…Oh, please…"

"…"

"What."

"I don't think I've ever seen you wear shorts before."

She raised an eyebrow, then glanced down at her navy shorts. "Um, I don't wear them much, but it's hot out."

He blanched. "You call this hot?" _Speaking of which_— began one of those impudent voices in his head.

"Jungle boy," she snorted.

"Mountain girl," he retorted, glad the conversation had steered away from—

"So why _does _that elicit staring?"

—Just kidding. "Uh. You mean apart from the obvious?" he repeated, some of his previous insolent tone reappearing.

"You're hopeless," Diana groaned, rolling her eyes. Of course she never wore shorts—there was usually no need to, and besides, she had to cover her feminine form most of the time anyway. She wasn't used to feeling this…exposed. And Zack's frequent stares weren't helping. Although, it was kind of funny to make him feel the slightest bit awkward once in a while. Not much embarrassed the guy, and she took full advantage of that whenever she could.

As they passed the small brown schoolhouse, Zack learned the meaning of fear.

A crowd of kids out in the schoolyard during their break had spotted Diana, and were all charging her with unmatched enthusiasm, shrieking and laughing. She was tackled, voices calling her name all at once and yelling questions at her. Everyone wanted to show her either how much they had grown, or the new toy they had gotten for their birthday, or the papercut on their little finger. She laughed as well, embracing them all in turn and trying to take in a hundred different stories at once.

Then the kids noticed Zack, standing there, petrified.

"Who's that?" a girl whispered not-so-secretly to Diana. Most of the kids out here were seven to nine years old, and were fascinated by anything new and potentially exciting.

"Oh, this is Zack." Diana smiled at Zack and motioned him over. "He's here visiting with me." Taking a glance at a boy near her, she leaned down and whispered to him.

"Hey, you _do _have funny hair!" the boy exclaimed in sudden realization, pointing at Zack's head.

"Whoa!"

"Can I touch it?"

"What _happened _to it?"

Diana laughed as Zack was overtaken by a swarm of children, and his awkwardness soon disappeared. For all that he was a people person, she couldn't have imagined that he was so uncomfortable around children. Well, then again, he was (or rather, always had been) an only child, but he was far from being socially awkward!

"Diana?" A girl tugged on Di's hand. "Is he your _boyfriend_?" she giggled.

She sighed resignedly. It had to come to this eventually… "Yes, he is, now go and attack him for me, 'kay?" The little girl obliged, the information spreading fast and fascinating many.

The boys were particularly impressed with Zack. He was tall, handsome, had big muscles, had a girlfriend (who happened to be Diana a.k.a. officially one of their absolute favorite cool older people), walked with a swagger and a cocky grin, and didn't care if they climbed all over him. Therefore he was extremely cool.

Diana watched and grinned, shaking her head, until she suddenly got one of her Feelings and turned to the left to zero in on someone walking across the opposite side of the square with her eagle eyes. Sure enough, she gasped slightly and ran up to Zack, calling to him.

He paused, one kid on his shoulders and several more hanging off his arms, and looked at her in concern. "What's up?"

"I have to go see someone! I'll be right back!" She all but jumped up and down in anticipation.

"Uh…'kay?" The words of vague comprehension had barely left his mouth when she was tearing off again, across the square.

She ran fast and hard, stray dust clouding up from the cobblestones underneath her sneakers. "Jonathan!" she cried.

The young man turned in surprise, looking around for whoever was yelling his name, and barely had time to realize what was barreling toward him before the something nearly tackled him to the ground in a giant bear hug. Diana flung herself on him, forgetting her own strength.

Then he figured out that his favorite cousin was nearly squeezing the life out of him. "D—Di?" he choked out in disbelief.

"Yeah! It's me! Oh, my Goddess, am I glad to see you!" She grinned and held him at arm's length, sizing him up. "Did you grow again in three months?" she asked incredulously.

"Uh, maybe? Hang on, where'd you come from? What are you doing here—no, wait, what are you doing _period_?" he gaped, blinking at her. Who was this upbeat young woman, grinning her head off and attacking people in public? He didn't even want to think about what kind of state she had been in when he had last seen her. But, oh, had it been different from this!

"I…well, it's a long story. A really long story," she chuckled. "Gaia, I have to tell you _every_thing—"

"Hey, who's this?" Zack spoke, approaching from behind Diana. "More old friends for me to meet?" he joked.

"Yeah, Zack, this is my cousin Jonathan," she smiled up at him. "Jon, thisismyboyfriendZack."

"Was that all one word?" Jonathan muttered, extending a hand to Zack. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Zack said warmly, then gave Diana an inquisitive glance. "'Jonathan'?" he inquired in confusion. As far as he knew, that was the name of Diana's cousin who had been killed…

"There are a lot of name repetitions in my family," she confirmed hurriedly. "Especially on Dad's side. Jon's dad is my dad's brother," she explained, nodding at her cousin.

"Got that right." Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Our family's friggin' _huge_. One of these days I'll find out that I'm related to the girl I'm dating or something," he grumbled good-naturedly.

Zack could definitely see the family resemblance between his girlfriend, her twin, and her cousin. Their fathers must look a lot alike and they must all take after them, he thought. Diana, Devon, and Jonathan all shared the same dark chestnut hair and stubborn mouth. Jon's eyes were more hazel than green, but the shape of the eyes was similar. Zack thought that the three could have pulled off being triplets, if they wanted to.

As it turned out, they actually were a bit like triplets. Jonathan had always been like Diana and Devon's older brother—albeit not even by a year—and had always been there for Diana after her brother had died.

"So you're with Shinra?" Jonathan casually directed at Zack, who blinked.

"Uh—yeah, um, how'd you know?"

"Well, there's the eyes, and I can just kinda tell. Man, that woulda been awkward if I was wrong." He wrinkled his nose and laughed.

Diana shook her head. "Way to go, guys. Way to go. Hey, Zack, you mind if I talk to Jon for a minute?"

"Yeah, no problem. I understand." He waved her on, backing up.

"Thanks." Diana got to him before he got too far away and pecked him on the cheek. "Now get back to the little monsters."

He smiled good-naturedly. "Will do. Good meeting you, Jonathan."

"Same to you." Jon inclined his head.

Diana watched him go, and once she was sure that he and his SOLDIER hearing were fully otherwise occupied, she turned back to her cousin. "Have I got some stories for you," she declared.

"I can only imagine," he said dryly.

"This might take longer than a few minutes." The two sat down on a bench and Diana explained in a version as compacted as possible what had happened to her, starting with the night she ran away.

"You know, you were the last person to see me," she mused. "You walked me home after dinner…and I didn't see my parents again, at least not to the face."

She explained her decision to do what she had been considering subconsciously for so long; pretending to be Devon; meeting Zack and realizing that she already had; meeting him as a girl again; Cloud; Tifa; Max and Shane; training; almost dying saving Zack; Aerith; Vincent; Reno and the rest of the Turks; thinking she saw Devon in the mirror; dating Zack; certain escapades at a certain bar; Rufus Shinra; Angeal, Sephiroth, and Genesis; crazy night acts with her male best friends; missions; making SOLDIER Third Class; the Wutai invasion and massive fight; her genes freaking out; the mako treatments; the frequent drop-in visits from the Goddess; correspondence with her parents; Yuffie; what she had told Zack on the rooftop that night; Scarlet; paintballing; the 'supervised' mission to the eastern coast; the temporary stupidity surrounding her relationship with Zack; her encounters with her ex-boyfriend; her plans for the day; and generally showing everybody what she was made of.

He didn't speak much the entire time, only interrupting to agree, react, or ask clarifying questions.

At the end, he looked at her and said two words: "You're insane."

"I know. It runs in the family," she joked. "But seriously. I've made it this far. _Three months_, Jon. Once I make Second—and I'm _going_ to get there—I'll come out with the truth. Until then, everything—_everything_—is on the line. It's constant stress, constant watching my back. But you know…it's okay. It's going to be okay." She smiled distantly, then her eyes snapped back to the present time and place. "I have somewhere I belong."

**A/N: Aww :) So now that it is 1:01 A.M. by the time I'm done with all...this...-.-' I'm friggin' exhausted. Goodnight, hope you enjoyed all that ;) Thanks for reading, and please review! :D 150 is coming right up...!**


	33. This Mad World

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: If a lawyer comes knocking on my door (and especially if he's got a Clipboard of Doom) and opens with a phrase containing 'fanfiction' 'copyrights' and 'lawsuit', I just might have to give him a phrase or two back containing the words 'fair use' 'clipboard' and 'ass'.**

**A/N: Okay okay okay! Don't kill me! :OOOOO It was eight days! Eight days! (I think.) Could be worse. But the thing is, I've been off writing for about a week and a half, because I was barely eking out the lines with really not a clue what my train of thought was. So I took a little bit of a break, just reading and catching up on this one story that's, like, 200K words O.o but is totally amazing. I'm back on track and all, so ta-dah! Haven't got much time at eleven-thirty on a Sunday night to respond to reviews-by the way: EIGHT! :D I LOVE YOU ALL WITH A PASSION- but in general...**

**Things you're probably speculating about, well, all will come in due time. I'm not giving any hints...! :P And yes, Diana was quite the killer to that ass-hat, wasn't she? ^^ I recently went back and read my first few chapters, and my goddess, both Diana and my writing have matured *joyful sniffle* yay :) To clarify: no, Zack has absolutely no clue that Diana and Devon are the same person. The thing with that is that, even though the two supposedly different people look identical, the way they were introduced to everyone was as two separate people, therefore the information that everyone was first given is what sticks. It doesn't even occur to someone to question that, because you would just take it for granted that, 'well, duh, he's a guy, he lives in the dorm with me, and he has a near-identical sister'. If an idea like that is introduced to someone, their mind starts to make excuses for incongruencies and there's no question about the truth of it all after a while. That's the idea there :) THANK YOU LoveTheCrazy, DarkAssassin, Sarah, rosewhip, Anonymous, Shatter, Sayonara, and Mikkiz!**

**And, lastly, thanks to three new additions to the reviewer family: Mikkiz, LadyShinkukaze (from Chapter 31 I believe) and Anonymous O.o haha, hey there you three, glad to see you've joined the ride or dropped a line for the first time. Hope you enjoy this one!**

**Now onwards, and as a note: if you want a soundtrack-at the top of the mountain, turn on some Simple Plan with their song Untitled. ;)**

**Chapter 33: This Mad World**

"Did you really just sweet-talk me into hiking?" Zack made a face at Diana's back.

She shrugged, sparing a glance at him, several yards behind her. "Maybe. I call it persuasion."

"Oh. Persuasion, she says. Fantastic." He rolled his eyes.

"Come on, SOLDIER First Class, what's a little hike?" she snorted. "Are you questioning your own manly physical abilities?"

"No," he defended himself. "But I'm a _lazy _First when I feel like it!"

"Bull, complete bull," she laughed. "You are anything but lazy. And besides, if you want to just send me up here alone…"

"Absolutely not!" he huffed, putting on a burst of speed and catching up to her. "I wouldn't do that."

"Exactly," she said triumphantly. "I know that. Oh…is this…?" She turned one hundred and eighty degrees, facing down the mountainside. They should be getting close…they hadn't been all that far from town. The part she really remembered was fleeing from that clearing, so she had to face the town to get her bearings. "Hm…" She looked around carefully again. It was a little hard to tell, without the blinding sparkle of snow on the trees and covering the ground. "Aha," she said grimly. There was a small sapling to her right, with a large evergreen behind it. She had considered hiding behind the tree as she bolted down the makeshift path, but deemed it foolish at the last second and had almost had her eyes gouged out by the branches on the sapling, nearly invisible in the veil of late winter. Well, honestly, it had been early April. But Kalm was a mountain town, and winters started early and ran late, and snow lingered and clung to the earth for weeks after it fell.

"Okay. Up here… Wow, there's still a bit left to go," she said in surprise. "I can't believe I ran this…"

"Yeah, but you were going downhill and were high on adrenaline," Zack pointed out quietly. "You doing okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, fine. I'll be okay," she said, partially to reassure herself. She had no clue how her memories would react to seeing the clearing again, and it freaked her out not knowing.

They trekked on farther, passing a flat sheet of rock that Diana had slipped on when it had been covered in a thin coating of ice. Finally the land leveled out slightly, but not for long. That was as far as they needed to go, though.

Around another bush, filled out with green leaves instead of prickly branches with tiny icicles dripping off the ends, and a small space was cleared among the trees. The clearing only had a diameter of a few dozen yards, with no real distinct shape, but it was easily distinguishable all the same. Especially Diana.

She looked around, almost in slow motion, her breath hissing over her teeth, Zack at her back. Her legs moved forward, almost subconsciously, stepping over the lone knobby tree root that still seemed like it had popped out of nowhere in the grass. She looked from the ground to the trees, to the right, to the ground, to straight ahead, and moved her feet over a few inches.

This was where she had been frozen.

She sidestepped a few feet and fidgeted a moment, getting her bearings set again.

This was where he had been warm and alive, heart beating, lungs working, gears in his brain churning fast.

She walked a few steps forward and to the right, to where a slight depression marked the ground, along with a flat stone the size of a plate that she had placed there the one day she had visited this place.

This was where he had fallen and bled out, heart steadily draining his life force, lungs choking, eyes closing against the inescapable pain.

She prayed that in heaven, he had been liberated from the pain.

Ho_w could this happen to you?_ Of all people, he had been perhaps one of the lucky ones who lived with no regrets, had been loved by so many, and repaid his misdeeds in full, even if not directly. Devon had by no means been an overly sanctimonious kid, but he had cared so deeply for everyone that he came into contact with that you just couldn't help but like him. Of course he had enemies—many were jealous. Some just didn't get along well with him.

_I bet it hurt. I hope it didn't last too long… I bet you were blinded, lying there. Did the sky get brighter? Did it turn into black? I hope you didn't have to stand the pain for long._

She sank to her knees slowly, burying her fingers in the earth. It was slightly cool and just barely damp. It was covered in grass, not freezing, numbing white crystals. The breeze was warm and gentle on her hair; not a chilly whoosh of cold air laced with shards of frost.

_Did you try to scream? I know you did. I heard you. Could you remember why you were lying there, in the end? Did you think of me? I hope it ended as easily as possible, even if I couldn't be there for you right then…_

Zack was off to the side, close enough to be there for her, but giving her plenty of room at the same time.

Her brother used to be her rock, the solid component that she clung to and loved more than anything else in this world. He always had a way out, always had a backup plan. He was always analyzing. Always considered every possible outcome.

_Did it feel like falling? Did you try to cling, but slipped on the ice and fell? Did you hang by a thread for two eternities and a half? What were you holding on to, if anything?_

How many times had she wished that she could start it all over; live out her entire life, all over again, joys, grievances and all, if only to know when not to take a hike up the mountain on a fateful April day when the snow still clung to the ground? To relive every single moment, and know that it could vanish in an instant, and go through all the pains and aches of growing up all over again? If only to see him live. If only to have him keep breathing. If only to protect him. She would have give anything. She still would, in less time than it took for one miraculous heartbeat to make its cycle.

_Did you hang on to a time when nothing mattered? Did you know what had happened? And did you mind? Did you know that it couldn't be erased? Did you know how much I would have given, if only you had kept breathing? Years of my life, if only for another half hour of yours that it would have taken to save you..._

She began to cry and sob all at once. She fell to the ground, almost imagining that it was still soaked in blood, and she thought again that she would have gladly given him as much of her own life-sustaining, flawlessly identical type B-positive substance as he needed, if only to keep that heart going. How many times had she wished, and asked, _why?_ Her fingers dug deeper into the soil, getting the grains under her nails as her entire frame shook.

_The day just inexorably continued on into the edge of night as you faded away… Could you see it? Did you see the daylight slip away and know your own minutes were numbered? What was your last thought? I hope it didn't hurt too much…angels don't deserve to hurt._

_How could this happen to us?_

_A fragile girl fell to her knees in the snow and tried so hard to hold back the threatening tears._

A strong young woman knelt in the dirt and let the tears fall.

"I want to retrace it," she decided out loud, a little thickly, several very long minutes later. She didn't know how long she had sat there, but she had willingly reached out to Zack when she saw he was still not far from her.

"Huh?" Zack paused slightly, as he had been rubbing her back soothingly.

"I'm retracing my path back. I'm gonna run it," she said with more emotion.

"Um—uh, Di, I don't know if that's such a good—"

"Of course it is!" she said with conviction, then gently disentangled herself from his embrace to turn back to her brother's dying place. "I love you," she whispered, extending an arm slightly toward the spot marked by the stone. "…Goodbye." She had finally come to terms with herself, with the cards she had been dealt, no matter how chock full of bad luck they were. She had accepted that Devon wasn't going to casually walk through the door after all, now or on any day in the vast future. "And, you know what?" She turned slightly to face up the mountainside, toward the direction that the enemy soldiers had come from. "Screw YOU, Wutaian infantry." She whirled back around, eyes searching for the place she'd taken off to in between the trees.

There, between the branches of that evergreen and the thick maple. She rocked back and forth on her toes a few times, like she was about to start a race.

"And…GO!" she suddenly yelled fiercely, making Zack jump slightly. She was off like a blur, a bit off-step at first, but quickly picking up her stride.

She slipped into the treeline and galloped down the mountainside with little hesitation of the directional variety. Her strides were long and fast, and she ran like she couldn't possibly have been able to four months ago. Even with the adrenaline high that came from being actively hunted down by men with guns, she couldn't match her now SOLDIER speed.

Small creatures scattered from the areas around her in an attempt to escape the lightning-fast demon that was tearing down the mountainside.

She remembered each turn, each gasp, each swerve and desperate burst of speed as she leapt over an obstacle. In a matter of seconds, she was somewhere she recognized and stopped abruptly, nearly causing Zack to crash into her, as he had been following from a safe distance.

"And this is where I was stopped," she murmured. "He cut me off, and then I tried to fight him…" _She panicked and spun the other way, only to encounter another body in the way. She kicked out as hard as she could, sending him down in pain originating from below the waist. Whirling, she suddenly found a gun pointed at her nose and she screamed, turning this way and that frantically. He was shouting, likely threatening to fire, until she grabbed a stone and chucked it at him. Unfortunately, this caused him to pull the trigger, and she hit the deck with all possible haste. One of the soldiers was unlucky and wasn't so quick to catch on. As she scrambled to her feet in the midst of the subsequent mayhem and went to break free of the perimeter that was sure to close around her at any moment, a broadsword was suddenly in her face. Having barely ducked in time, the blade sliced down and across the right side of her face. She yelled again in pain and something hit her hard in the stomach, making her bend over, gasping. But she still started running again, shoving one surprised soldier out of the way. Blood ran down her face and her ribs stung and her lungs burned._

"Where I got this." She absently traced the thin white scar carefully. Another two inches and she would have lost her eye for sure. "It hurt…but it could have been so much worse. I went this way…"

She took off again, Zack following quickly. _How is she this fast? This is, like, SOLDIER fast. This is totally ridiculous—_

"I started screaming here, and then they came out and shot at the guys after me," Diana stated bluntly, breaking through the treeline. "And here we are again." The gates into town were no more than fifty yards away.

* * *

"Hey, let's go the back way," Diana suggested abruptly.

"Uh. Sure?" Zack was feeling a bit helpless. His girlfriend was in a really odd mood. He thought that maybe the stress of returning to that spot up the mountain was getting to her. Like, _really _getting to her. He really hoped she was getting some kind of feeling of reconciliation, or closure, or whatever—anything that would help her, because Gaia knew she needed it, and honestly, she was freaking him out a little bit.

She led him down a side street and they made their way through the unassuming back alleys of Kalm. "Hey, Zack." Diana turned around to face him. "Are you okay?"

He blinked at her and widened his eyes. "Am _I _okay?"

"Yeah. I mean, you're acting kinda funny."

_Oh my Goddess, she's actually being serious._ "_Me?_ Di, you're the one you should be worried about. Are you okay?"

"I—really? …Oh. Okay. Yeah, well I'm just kinda messed up, I guess…" she shrugged a little absently.

"Di, now you're scaring me. Of course you're messed up. You just need a hug or something. Gaia, so do I." He held out his arms imploringly.

Her expression softened and she smiled gently, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "You're right. Sorry," she murmured into the crook of his neck.

He gave a halfhearted snort. "Now don't go and be sorry. _I'm _sorry for you. Gaia, I need some kind of stress-relieving exercise, or something…" he groaned as they began to walk again, arms still around each other.

"Squats?" Diana suggested jokingly.

He chuckled. "Nah, I always do those…"

"Who are you and what have you done with Zack?" She put on a horrified expression.

"I just need some variety!" he justified himself, and she shook her head, smiling.

"Well, I dunno, then. Throw something? Run? Hey, I'm just throwing ideas out, here," she said defensively as he blanched at the idea of more running. "You really are quite the lazy SOLDIER!" she snorted. "Uh, spar with someone?" she shrugged.

"Yeah, who?" he said glumly.

She had a Diana Moment, quickly followed by the customarily subsequent Brilliant Idea. "Me?" she suggested innocently.

He stopped and raised his eyebrows at her. They were just a few houses down from hers on the cobblestone street.

"What! My backyard is big enough." She wrinkled her nose.

"…Uh-huh."

"Zack. You're doing one of the Looks. Out with it."

"Spar with _you_?" he blurted, then amended his words. "Okay, yeah, I've seen you in action, but the mako…" He then narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Hang on, you've got some too, though— but still!"

"Aw, come on, Zack," she wheedled. "Please? You can go easy on me if you want! Well, okay, not that easy," she corrected herself. He crossed his arms stubbornly at this. "It's not like you'll be able to actually hurt me or anything! Pleeeease? ... I'll get my mom to bake cookies!" she said in a cajoling tone.

His eyes slid over to her slowly. "…Cookies?"

"Uh-huh."

"…Really?"

"Yep."

"…Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise."

"…"

"…_Please_—?"

"Oh, fine!" he spluttered, throwing his hands in the air. Give a Zack a pleading face and add the promise of cookies, and you've got yourself a hooked Puppy.

She grinned in anticipation. She really needed to loosen up, anyway, in more ways than one. And besides, she didn't want to be getting out of shape, now did she?

* * *

Settling into a defensive position, knees slightly bent, arms loose and in front of her, Diana breathed deeply once. This was going to be really interesting. She wasn't nervous, of course—it was Zack, after all—but rather excited to find out what she could do.

Zack didn't want to insult his girlfriend by going too easy on her, but of course he wasn't going to go full force, or anything close to it. He figured it was kind of like sparring with Devon, and he wanted a chance to see firsthand exactly how much she could do.

"Ladies first," he nodded, grinning.

"Really?" she sighed.

"It's only proper."

"Right. You asked for it."

She knew he expected her to open with a kick, or at least something targeting his core. That was how she worked. So instead, she went for a head strike with her right fist.

He blocked it in mild surprise, then realized that she had known what he had thought he knew (if that made any sense.) He responded with a jab to the shoulder, trying to get her off balance and maybe strike a nerve, but her open palm was in the way all of a sudden, and she tried to grab his wrist. He pulled back fast, and then moved towards her, trying to hook a leg around her ankle to trip her up. She slid out of reach and tried that signature kick to the side while he was facing at a disadvantageous angle. But he was lightning fast, and snatched her ankle. She prepared to be thrown to the ground and roll into a crouch, but instead, she was lifted clear off her remaining foot, and suddenly, she was being whipped through the air like a helicopter blade.

She lost her bearings for a millisecond, but could still land sideways on a tree trunk when she was released and flew through the air for a fraction of a second. Cocking a fist back, she pushed off and sprang towards him again, but he only turned and twisted, sending her rolling into a flip before she faced him again. He attacked first this time, going for a core strike that would be hard for her to block, but she took advantage of her already-precarious balance and flipped over forwards in a handspring, landing just beside him and yanking him into a chokehold.

He grappled to find the nerve in her arm that would cause her to release her grip, while trying to trip her at the same time, but she kept wriggling out of reach. So he grabbed her backwards around the waist to flip her completely upside down, and she slammed to the ground unexpectedly. She rolled over backwards to get away, and waited patiently in a crouch until she decided half a second later to launch herself straight at him.

* * *

Mr. Loveless was whistling quietly to himself as he made his way through the considerably depleted contents of the refrigerator. He turned to walk to the pantry, then did a double take when his peripheral vision caught a flurry of movement too big for animals outside the window, in the backyard.

"Er…Chloe?" he called.

"What is it?" came his wife's voice from upstairs.

"…You may want to see this."

"What was that, dear? … WHAT in the name of GAIA-"

* * *

Diana flicked a few drops of sweat out of her eyes in annoyance, and Zack took the brief opening, getting a hold of her dominant arm and twisting it behind her back. However, this girl had mako in her, and was able to spring off the ground and twist right along with the direction her arm was being forced in. Upside down, hanging off of a briefly confused Zack, she yanked on his ankle and hit the back of his knee, sending him down to one side as she rolled to the other. They jackknifed to their feet in mirror motions and exchanged a few punches, swipes, and well-placed blocks. Then, all of a sudden, Diana's foot was in Zack's face and his only thought as he flew sideways and hit the ground was '_not again_'. She quickly darted after him and slid baseball style, knocking him back to the ground from which he had been trying to rise. She managed to get one arm behind his back, but then he lurched off the ground and flipped over, pinning her beneath him and nearly knocking the wind out of her. She used the momentum and they rolled over several more times, each trying and failing to gain the upper hand. Finally they slammed into the base of a tree, and half of Diana's ribs would have been crushed had her body been weaker. She grabbed onto the tree trunk and tried to pry herself away from Zack, but he grabbed her ankle and she was flung to the ground again. As he got to his feet and turned to her again, she kicked up from where she was lying on her back and planted her foot squarely in the middle of his chest, and he went sailing over her, tumbling back into a standing position just as she got up on her feet again. She went for another kick but he grabbed her heel and pushed up hard, and she was flipped clear over backwards, turning it into a handspring. The balls of her feet made deep rivets in the dirt as she pushed off and launched herself at Zack in a kind of refined tackle maneuver, and they both slammed to the ground once again. However, this time she twisted her ankle around his and yanked to the side, making them stop rolling abruptly with her sitting on his back, one hand pinned to the ground and one behind his back.

He tried to say something, and she leaned down warily, panting. "What was that?"

"Mff." He turned his head to the side and spat out a few pine needles, laughing breathlessly. "I said, let's call it a draw! …For now."

She laughed and got off him. "Oh." She gave him a hand up and he planted a kiss on her forehead. She blushed slightly as he took her hand and pulled her toward the back door. "Goddess, you're a mess, Zack," she declared as she gave him a once-over.

"Now how'd that happen?" he snorted. "Gee, I wonder. You really are still getting better, you know," he insisted. "Honestly. One of these days…"

"…What? What'll happen then? I'll beat you for real? Come on, say it, out loud…" she teased him, jiggling the door handle to make it unstick like she always had to.

"Come on, please, don't injure my pride any more," he groaned in mock agony.

She was halfway through a laugh when she finally got through the doorway and stopped dead at the sight of her parents standing by the window, staring at the two. She blinked. "Um…"

"Ow," Zack muttered, having run into her back. He stepped around her and froze like a puppy in the headlights at the looks on the Lovelesses' faces. "Uh…"

"…Surprise?" Diana said weakly.

Her mother was the first to snap out of it. "What exactly was that?" she demanded, if irresolutely.

"Well, uh, that's what we call practice… Happens often…on a regular basis…" Diana tried.

"For _what_?"

"Well, Mom, Zack's kind of a SOLDIER, they do have to do training and stuff, and me, well, I dunno… Recreational yet also practical purposes?"

"That's scary, is what it is," Mr. Loveless stated dryly. "Honestly. I almost pity any muggers around Midgar at night—"

"Delos! Not helping!" Chloe scolded.

Before her mother could get in another word, Diana broke in. "Look, we went over this last night, right? So just…accept the fact that I'm trying to work with what I've got. Okay?"

"I…okay. Okay. That was just a little…disconcerting. Okay." Chloe absently glanced around the room before drifting upstairs.

Delos looked at Diana and Zack, still frozen over the threshold. "Quite frankly, that was terrifying but cool. Who knew this mako stuff did all that?" he scoffed.

"Er, they do use it on all the SOLDIERs, you know, Dad," Diana began.

"My daughter, sparring with SOLDIERs!" he snorted again. "What's happening to this world? Insanity, that's what it is. Yet, somehow, damn impressive insanity." He walked off as well, chuckling to himself.

Zack looked at Diana, who looked back in apprehension. "What just happened?" he inquired.

**A/N: Hahaha, I love her dad! He's completely insane! Ahem. Anyways, thought you might appreciate the little sparring match. It was wicked fun to write another detailed aciton sequence after dealing with all that angst. (Btw, anyone like the song choice?) It was really depressing to write that part, but it had to be done. Also, it hopefully gave you a little bit more insight as to what exactly happened that day. SO! Reviews are much appreciated, especially any good constructive criticism! Thanks for reading :D**


	34. FreezeDried and Microwaved

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Dilly dally shilly shally dammit, why won't they give me the ownership papers already? And don't tell me that it's time I did the forgiving!**

**A/N: Eh, nine days, not terrible...ish... And this one's kinda short by comparison, too :/ But there was really no other way to break it up, so bear with me :) So I don't have a ton of time right now-gee, could you tell from lack of updating?-and I have a feeling I'm going to be swearing and muttering to myself more than usual for the next few days as a result of going to the dentist today and being informed that I have two cavities -_-" Screw this... But whatever. I can deal wiht pointy things being stuck in my mouth, fshh... But anyways, I was happy the other day 'cause I had some extra time on my hands, so I was messing around on youtube and came across FFVII: Last Order, so I decided to spare the twenty minutes and watch it again. Can I just say a few things? Okay, for one, how much total Shinra ass does Zack kick? I was like "you just got TOTALLY owned" the entire time, it was great. And Cloud. Cloud kicks Sephiroth ass too ^^ You go, Cloudy! Saving the world, one deranged psychopathic arsonist at a time! (Assuming he doesn't, you know, come back to life...twice...fsh, nahhh, that'll never happen...) And then I spent a while trying to figure out why it's called Last Order. Ideas? I've got a theory that it's Zack's last order to Cloud to run, at the end, but any other ideas? So anyway, after that I found the ending to Crisis Core... I legitimately started crying when Zack went all floaty, and the hero line absolutely killed me. Thank god I was home alone, because I started positively dying. It's so saaaad, why does he hafta DIE? (Can you tell I like alternative-ending fics?)**

**Just another note, this one more relevant and less drabble-y: I forgot to mention our 150th reviewer! Hey there xXDarkAssassinXx :D Congrats, I think this chapter deserves a dedication to her! Also, the soundtrack makes a reappearance: Frozen by Within Temptation for the middle part when our heroine's alone. And I just realized something. The chapter title was meant to be referring to the humor at first, but I changed it slightly and I think I've got a symbolism thing going on here now O.o Lol I'm probably just overtired. Anyhoo. ENJOY! :)**

**Chapter 34: Freeze-Dried and Microwaved**

"Do I _have _to wear a dress?"

"Just because you can fight like a man does not mean you have to dress like one!"

"I do _not _dress like a man, I just—"

"None of your excuses!"

"But Mom—"

"My name is not 'But Mom'!"

"Wait a sec—"

"Do you want me to stab you with this?"

"Dear Goddess above, I'm having a seizure! Someone call an ambulance! Agghhh…"

"Oh, quit dramatizing."

"_My friend, the fates are cruel_… Ohmygawdess Mom it's Genesis!"

"Right. Hold still."

Diana moaned loudly again.

"Would you quit complaining? All I have to do is shorten the straps. Honestly…"

"Shouldn't that just give me more incentive to drag it out as long as possible—?"

* * *

Zack winced and glanced at the ceiling as Diana yelped again from upstairs.

_"If you'd stop squirming—!" _came the echo through the house.

He sighed and shook his head. "Whose idea was that?" he muttered to himself. "I pity them both."

"Don't worry, I've been living with this for the past twenty years. I'm still alive," Mr. Loveless shrugged as he walked into the kitchen and stuck a cup of leftover coffee in the microwave, jabbing at a few buttons.

Zack grunted in agreement. "So what's the occasion again? I missed that amidst the general, er…" He glanced at the ceiling again.

"Quite understandable." Diana's father glanced at the microwave, then tsked and took a stab at another series of the buttons that had a tendency to stick. "Family dinner tonight. And that means the _whole _family. I'm still finding people that I didn't even know I was related to," he scoffed. "You're invited, you know."

Zack blinked and mumbled an unassuming response. Delos waved a hand. "Nonsense. Diana will need someone to keep her from being bored to death. Not to mention protection from the onslaught of cross-examination questioning."

"I…well, okay, I suppose. Questioning?" He cocked his head to the side. "…Oh. That. That would make sense, I guess. And we all know how she loves attention," he added dryly.

Delos chuckled. "Try to keep her from stabbing someone with the kitchenware."

"Oh, I'm sure she'd figure out a much more creative way than that," Zack snorted.

Mr. Loveless rubbed his chin. "True, that. Oh, fiddlesticks," he muttered, jumping slightly at the mess starting to bubble out of his coffee cup. He hit the button to release the door and the bubbles went down fast with a hissing noise. Tentatively poking at the mug that he had removed from the bowels of the appliance, he wrinkled his nose. "Smells fine…" he allowed nonetheless.

"YES!"

Both men jumped. Delos looked like he was about to find the nearest shelter and drag everyone nearby with him. Zack's hand grasped at the empty air above his right shoulder where the hilt of his broadsword should have been.

A whirlwind came zipping down the banister in the next room and tore into the combined kitchen and living room space. "FREEDOM!" it shrieked, and made for the nearest portal of escape. The back door was the most likely candidate, but there were several obstacles in the way and another tornado was close behind the first one, tearing down the stairs in a slightly more orthodox manner.

"Oh, no, you don't, young lady!" it screeched. "Dresses aren't your ONLY problem!" It paused in the doorway and took off after the first one. Apparently not feeling like running outside, Mrs. Loveless leaned as far out the back door as she could. "Do you still own enough bras?" she yelled.

"MO-_THER_!" Diana was already halfway around the side of the house.

Delos sipped his coffee cautiously.

Zack's face turned an impressive rosy shade. And it took a lot to make Zack Fair blush.

"Again, I remind you that I live with this…" Delos murmured, examining the inside of the microwave for possible damage.

"Uh-huh…" Zack said weakly. He glanced out a window in despair as Diana and Chloe yelled at each other across the yard. It was all in good family humor, of course, but it still made him cringe. Maybe Diana was more like her mother than she realized sometimes. His expression softened slightly as he saw Diana shout something, then double over laughing and clutching her stomach. She had the funniest laugh—it was this loud, Gaia-awful echoing noise that started with a little snigger and had a tendency to erupt into fits of rolling, earsplitting waves of…happiness. Or something like that. Then most likely she would fall over—as she did now, collapsing against the fence helplessly. And everyone else would start laughing because hers would turn into a silent shaking if she was laughing hard enough, emitting the occasional loud hiccup that sounded like something was being strangled. It was obnoxious and loud and just plain bizarre sometimes, but he still loved her laugh. It was cute, in a weird way. He especially loved being the one to make her do it. The corners of his mouth curved up and he watched her enjoy her private joke as Chloe swept back inside, breezing through the room and shaking her head good-naturedly.

Delos rolled his eyes, having given up on the potentially injured household appliance, and carefully studied the look that the younger man had on his face. Unaware that he was being observed, Zack chuckled as Diana finally picked herself up off the ground, dusted off her shorts, wiped her eyes dry of tears of mirth, and strode somewhat unsteadily towards the front door, which was a closer option by this time. Zack shook his head and turned back to the other occupant of the room, blinking when he realized that he was being surveyed.

"So have you told her yet?" Mr. Loveless asked bluntly.

Zack blinked again. "Er…told her what, Mr. L.?"

"You love her, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question. Sure, Zack could tell that Diana's father was feeling mildly awkward saying this, but was trying to come across as the protective, omniscient father. He wasn't going to ruin the effect.

"…Yes. I do. And I've told her so." Zack straightened slightly. He remembered how great it was to finally say it…

"Well. Good, then. She's my little girl and I hate to see her hurt. That's why she needs you so much, you know. So I'm glad she's found…someone like you," he finished cryptically with a look that said he both knew and was thinking of saying more than he was letting on, wandering out of the room and presumably heading for his small home office.

Zack blew out a breath. _Glad that's out of the way. What exactly was that supposed to mean, though? I'm clear in the approval department? How far is that supposed to extend?_ He heard the front door close and Diana's steps skip up the stairs two at a time. Well, he was glad, whatever Diana's father had meant. _Because I really do love her._

* * *

Diana sat on her bed a bit later on, the door closed. She sat, thinking of absolutely nothing at all, turning the charms on her necklace over and over with slender fingers. The metal was slightly cool against her never-failing body heat.

Maybe she wasn't just thinking of nothing.

The wind whistled quietly past her window, and the branches of the old hemlock reached out to brush the side of the house with the very tips of their green fingers.

Sure, it was good to be back. See the family, see the friends, remember all the good things about growing up here.

It also made her feel like living shit. Awfulness that only felt coldness. Saw no colors, only grayscale; had no way of reaching a soul that didn't even exist in the first place.

She was so entirely _sick _of this entire ordeal of her own betrayal. Betrayal to everyone she loved, everyone around her. No one should have to deal with this, right? It was torture. Secrets were demons, created out of spite for humans and their ways. She was sick of lying; cursed the capacity that humans had to calculate the truth and the ability to alter it. The ability to twist it beyond recognition and make it believable all the same.

Maybe, if there was some kind of chance, some kind of hope…it could stop. She would stop. Stop running. Stop having to run. But the word "if" meant that it was never going to happen on its own. She had to be the one to advocate the change, and she wasn't ready to do that, even if living itself was tearing her apart. She was sacrificing everything, giving everything up every second she lived, through every word that she spoke.

_What am I supposed to do? _It seemed like she was running out of reasons, running out of justifications, and also somehow time. She held onto the fact that she was _doing it to protect them, doing it to protect them, I have to protect them_. She kept it going in her head when she felt like she was about to lose it completely, repeating it over and over again. It was all she was trying to do; was the reason for her sacrifices.

And once the truth was out, and out completely, irreversibly, and to absolutely every corner of her world?

She knew they would all be sad. She had accepted long ago that they might hate her, for all she knew. Forgiveness was a far-off concept at this point, not much more than wishful thinking in most departments. But they would all be fine. They would move on, react how they would, and there was nothing that she could do about that part of it. She detested the feeling of powerlessness, but it was entirely irrational to think that she could control a reaction. She knew that perfectly well, but that didn't mean it didn't make her uncomfortable to not know what was coming next.

Maybe some of them would never fully understand. Would never really get it, what she did, and how, and why. They might never know. And that tore at her heart just as much.

She didn't want these walls up any more than she could enjoy lying to a loved one's face. She wanted to give those both up, and soon, or she might just…break. She didn't want to become completely unreachable, cut off from everything and everyone she loved, and all by her own doing.

Because she had been there before, and in retrospect, it was like hell.

It was her sacrifice. But it seemed like an awfully heavy price to be paying, even if it was altruistic by nature.

She was startled by a soft knock on her doorframe. The door was slightly ajar, and a shock of black spikes poked its way in cautiously.

"Oh," Zack said in relief. "You are in here. Your mom says to get ready and I'm fearing for my life at the moment."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why is that?"

"Isn't it nerve-wracking enough meeting my girlfriend's parents? Now we gotta throw in the _whole _extended family tree?" He threw his hands in the air in mock horror.

She gave a small, distracted snort and he paused, stepping in the door and peering at her face. "Hang on. What's up?"

"I—nothing. It's just…everything."

He sat down next to her and sighed. "Don't you know by now that putting 'nothing' and 'everything' in the same response just makes everything worse?"

She mumbled something incoherently and he rolled his eyes. He scooted back farther on the bed and pulled her onto his lap, running a hand through her hair. "Overload?" he asked simply.

"Not-yeah, actually. Pretty much. You know. Family. People. Places."

"Mm-hm." He just sat there and kept stroking her hair. It felt nice… She basked in the warmth that Zack brought with him wherever he went. It radiated through her, made all that much more potent by the physical proximity, and slowly, she relaxed into him. He made everything around her fill with happiness and love, and she inhaled deeply, as though to absorb it and keep it inside of her for as long as possible.

He breathed in the scent that she carried around with her, that gave off a faint feeling of heat but smelled like winter and peppermint and outdoors. As he held her in his arms, she seemed to shrink down, yet her aura built itself up steadily. She wasn't fragile; just vulnerable at the worst of times. And he wanted with all his heart to keep those times as far away as possible.

After a few minutes, she turned her face up from where it had been buried in his chest. "What would I do without the most amazing boyfriend in the world?" she smiled.

"What would _I _do without the strongest, most stubborn, absolute weirdest, most beautiful girlfriend in the world?" he grinned back, and kissed her quickly.

"You're too sweet. Now go get dressed." She smiled gently and steered him toward the guest room that he was staying in.

* * *

Diana groaned softly. _Dresses_… They would absolutely be the death of her. She felt so _exposed _and _wrong _and _unable to move..._ Eh, whatever. What could possibly happen at a family dinner? Who was she kidding? She really needed to loosen up once in a while.

She grabbed a comb and fiercely attacked the mop on her head. Having just showered, the texture of her hair had changed again and was now a mass of the unmanageable kind of curls.

"Screw this…" she moaned, yanking a knot out. She twisted her hair into some sort of bun, then made a face and settled for a high ponytail. It was short, considering the length she had to keep it at for 'Devon', but she could do enough with it as a girl as well.

She was making faces at herself, turning and craning her neck around as she examined herself in the mirror, when Zack appeared in the doorway. Not noticing him, she tugged on the edges of the yellow and white sundress material, glaring at the shoes that her mother had all but shoved down her throat. _Great idea, Mom. Let's put the danger magnet in the lightest stainable colors possible and shove her feet into death traps. Probably can't even stand up in the damned things_. She settled for grabbing a sweater out of the closet and put her arms through the sleeves, shrugging and wrinkling her nose at her reflection.

"Quit complaining, you're gorgeous."

She spun on a dime to regard Zack, who was leaning against her doorframe in clear amusement. He was wearing dark jeans and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and the tan he had picked up over the summer and his dark hair were accentuated by the clean, unbroken brightness.

"Why do you have to be so unbelievably attractive?" she muttered, almost too low for even him to hear. He pretended not to, seeing as how he would just start going on about her if he started talking, and the she'd just deny everything he said and huff at him for a while. So he kept his thoughts to himself. For the moment.

"And what are we going to do about this?" she chuckled, stepping towards him and reaching up to ruffle his hair.

"Agh! Not the hair!" he moaned, running his own hands through it anxiously.

"Come here."

"No! Never! Anything but the hair!" he protested.

"I say yes. Come. Sit. _Stay_." She grinned. "Good Puppy."

He grumbled and threw himself down into the chair near the mirror on the wall opposite of the bed. Diana snatched an extra comb from on top of her dresser before leaning down to peck him on the cheek. "I promise it won't be painful," she teased him. He grumbled and crossed his arms sourly. "Honestly," she scoffed. "You're as bad as Genesis! You men and your hair…"

She glanced at the comb in her hand, looked back at Zack's pouting face, rolled her eyes, and finally abandoned the comb. She began humming quietly to herself and carefully raked her fingers through his hair, making the little flyaways spring up in every direction. Zack immediately relaxed his posture and made an involuntary noise of satisfaction in the back of his throat. A small smile tugged at the corners of Diana's mouth and she smoothed the spikes down as well as she could. Which didn't work very well. She poked at one tentatively, and it bobbed back at her like a spring.

"Goddess, Zack, what do you _do _to this mop?" she muttered in confusion.

"Huh?" He blinked, snapped out of his own little bubble of happiness. "Uh. Nothing?"

"Are you serious? This is ridiculous. Here I've been, thinking you had some horrible accident with a load of gel when you were younger…"

He chuckled. "Nope. I'm just special like that."

"Well, that's certainly one word for it…" she murmured, and laughed when he started complaining again. "Kidding, jeez!" She kissed him on the cheek again. "Love you too."

"Kids?" Mrs. Loveless' voice drifted from the kitchen.

Diana gave one of those impressive eyerolls that is specially reserved for parents. "'Kids', she says. You're the one that's old and everything, Mom!" she muttered sarcastically. "Coming!" she yelled in the direction of the door.

"One question," Zack said as he stood. "Is _this _gonna be painful?"

She waved a hand. "Don't worry, insanity runs in my family. Just avoid the occasional depressed great-uncle or skanky second cousin and you'll be fine."

"Fabulous," he muttered, but smiled all the same, moving close to her and kissing her briefly before the two ventured downstairs.

**A/N: Yeah, so basically just a set-up chapter-it does lead to something fairly big and action-y and significant, so have no fear :) Hope you enjoyed my temporary bouts of humor and emotional overload. Now scribble down a review, seal the envelope, and leave it in the box on your left as you exit the lobby through the endlessly revolving doors. Thank you and have a nice day! :D**


	35. Ex Luce Ad Noctem

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I just own the inner workings of my own mind...no, wait...the voices say I barely have control over those, however limited they may be-HEY!**

**A/N: Ta-DAH! Six days...not bad, right? :) I tried to get this up a little bit quicker, seeing as how the last chapter was just a bit of a filler. If I had my way, I would've had this up two nights ago, but life didn't cooperate (gaspeth) and here I am. I was really excited for this chapter and did more editing, anyways. I'm just saying that there should be...uhm...quite the reaction to this one. But! Yes, here comes the insanity of a family :P That lasts about halfway through, and then...well...I ain't sayin' nothin'. But I finally got back to replying to reviews, thank goodness. No musical suggestions this time, but enjoy! :D**

**DarkAssassin: LOL. Don't worry, I'll save you from the doors! *fails and gets stuck* ...Or not. Yes, so it twas! Lucky 150th ^^ Eh, dresses aren't always bad...heh...always... Thanks and enjoy!**

**Sarah: Yep, it gets interesting preeeetty fast... I couldn't think of a way to start this one (...starting block...? no...) so I was like *gasp* jumble of mismatched screaming voices! Solution! So aqui es.**

**Shatter: Yesh, the ultimate question...maybe I'll search for it on a forum or something. Omg, but can I just say: _how _many times does Sephiroth say the word 'mother'? I swear, if I ever go to Japan, that'll be the only word I'll not forget, because it's been pounded into my HEAD. And hey, who doesn't love a deranged psychopathic arsonist at their disposal? Isn't it sad, though? :( I want everybody to end up happy too! The Big Moment will happen soon enough-several very necessary events need to happen first, though O_- Haha, everybody's commenting on the dress thing XD Hmm, now there's a thought, info leaking...hm... Thank youuuu :)**

**Sayonara: Double review! :P Twas depressing, wasn't it? :( But yes, you're absolutely right :) So it's okay. And, well, you did ask for insanity, so...!**

**LoveTheCrazy: Hahahahaha why yes I do love it ;) such evilness should not be used. Only by these lovely people in moments of extreme evilness. Thanks for the review :)**

**Shadow: You're so welcome! Thanks for reaindg and reviewing, and enjoy!**

**HeartlessVampireGirl: NEW REVIEWER! :DDDD Awesome! Thanks :) And btw, your profile picture has been dubbed an epic WIN by moi. Here's your update!**

**Chapter 35: Ex Luce Ad Noctem**

"Who're you?"

"Why is the goddamn beer always gone?"

"There are children here, do you have no filter at all?"

"Don't eat that!"

"Mommy, what's that strange man doing on the table?"

"_The voices…they're coming for me again_…!"

"And then I was all like, 'oh hells no you did not just go there!'"

Zack gazed around in a daze, eyes wide. "Uh…should I have been expecting something different?"

"Nope," Diana replied nonchalantly and ducked as an unidentified projectile went whizzing over her head. "You know, with a family this big, a good percentage of us have gotta be legitimately insane, right?"

"Uh…right," he replied somewhat faintly.

"Wuh-oh. Let's move," Diana said hastily, dragging Zack by the hand into a crowd of her relatives. "One of my alleged relations with a reputation is heading this way."

"O-okay!" he stammered, and followed along quickly.

"Trust me, you don't wanna find yourself in her line of sight," Diana advised, pointing out a young woman from a distance. "She's a little younger than me and has got a longer track record than everyone here put together. And with your looks, forget it, you'd never escape alive," she declared.

"Oh, what fun," Zack muttered dryly, edging farther into the crowd.

"Well, okay, to be entirely fair…maybe everyone here minus Fred," Diana was musing to herself.

"Fred?"

"Yup. He's our age-ish, blonde, and…right over there. Hey, Freddy!" she called out, waving.

A thin young man with bright, bleach-blonde hair and an impressive bronze tan turned in surprise, a perpetual grin on his face. "Oh my Gaia, it's my favorite girl in the whole world!" he gushed, rushing over to them. "How _are _you?" He hugged her tightly and she laughed. And then he spotted Zack. Giving him a once-over, he nodded and winked in appreciation. "And how are _you_, hot stuff?"

Diana hadn't gotten the chance to mention that her third cousin twice removed was flamboyantly gay. "Fred, this is Zack—he's my boyfriend," she smiled shyly. Zack just took it in stride.

"Hey there," Fred grinned jovially, sticking out a hand, which Zack took graciously.

"Hey. So you're part of the madhouse?" he joked.

"Oh, yeah. I enjoy every minute of it," the other boy laughed lightly.

"Join the club," he snickered, then stopped abruptly with a nervous glance over Diana's shoulder. The young woman whom he had been advised to avoid was nearing them. "Uh-oh. Leaving now?" he muttered.

Diana gazed around with as much subtlety as she could manage. "Yep. Go grab a beer and find Jonathan—I'll come save you later." She smiled up at him and kissed him on the cheek before giving him a gentle shove in the right direction. "Attention diverted," she murmured in triumph as her sketchy relation drifted off in another direction. She turned to Fred and grinned. "So what's been up around here?"

"Are you kidding? The usual," the blonde snorted, shoving his hands in his pockets. "What I want to know is what _you've _been doing."

"Heh. Oh. That," she grinned sheepishly. "Well, really long story cut really short, I went to Midgar and made some friends and have been living there for three months."

"Is that where you ran into Mr. Eye-candy?" Fred snickered. "In case you're totally blind, that is one fine-looking boy. Maybe I should take a vacation to Midgar, meet some people…" he continued wistfully.

"So, you have a boyfriend?" Diana nudged her cousin playfully.

"No," he chuckled somewhat forlornly. "Not right now. I think I'd have more luck in the city, honestly."

"Yeah, I get what you mean," she nodded. "Seems like things are more—AGH!"

"Who's this, it's my favorite niece!" A woman was crowing from Diana's right, pinching what little life was left out of her cheek.

"Dear Gaia, I'm twenty, not two—_hi_, Aunt Polly." Yes, she actually had an aunt named Polly. Her maternal grandparents had named their daughters Chloe, Polly, Elizabeth (Lizzie), and Suzanne (Susie), and their sons Phineas (Finny), Ricky, and Billy. Diana thought her grandparents were completely off their rockers for that one. 'Diana and Devon' was an alliteration, but come on, that wasn't so ridiculous, and besides, they were twins! At least her father's parents didn't do that to him and his four sisters and one brother. In fact, things had turned out quite nicely in the naming department. The thing was, her paternal grandparents were the ones who _acted _legitimately insane.

"You've grown so much, where have you been, have you heard the rumors and can you believe what my cousin's daughter Jamie is wearing, the audacity of that girl—but you haven't seen anyone yet, have you, well, let's go over here and find your parents, I'm sure they've got tons of people you're dying to—"

"Or I could just die and solve the problem," Diana muttered from behind a painfully forced smile.

"But what about me, Polly?" Fred came to her rescue. He made a dejected face, then brightened abruptly when Diana's aunt released her and latched on to Fred, all over the poor boy with remarks about how his hair had grown out and what a handsome young man he was turning into. He motioned frantically over his relative's shoulder for Diana to make a speedy escape, and she grinned in thanks and disappeared into the crowd gratefully. Unfortunately, she could only go unnoticed for so long, and had to keep evading those who gave her a second glance, looking for Zack all the while.

A few moments later, she was becoming both annoyingly paranoid and understandably annoyed at having to look away from anyone who showed a sign of recognition towards her. Finally, she spotted a shock of black spikes, bobbing along at a height somewhat lower than its normal above-six-foot height.

"Zack!" she called, and he abruptly popped into view, scanning wide-eyed over the heads of everyone in the surrounding area and looking for all the world like a deer caught in the headlights. He caught sight of her and grinned, making his way through the crowd and raising the half-gone bottle of beer in his hand to her as they finally came face to face with each other.

"Aw, thanks." She plucked it out of his hand before he could blink and took two substantial swigs, replacing it into his still-extended fingers. He raised his eyebrows and she laughed before planting a kiss on his lips.

A few whistles cut the air above the standard clamor and Diana pivoted to stick out a tongue at one—two identical boys, maybe fourteen years old, with sandy blond hair and identical wicked grins.

Zack winked at them and they snickered conspiratorially to each other, hurrying off as they laughed.

"The other twins," Diana sighed in explanation. "Fond of causing minor explosions, but otherwise basically harmless."

"Sounds like a few I could mention," Zack snorted, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"No kidding. Look, I can't stand walking around like this much longer, and I feel overdressed," she gestured down at herself, "and I mean, come on, look at Great-Uncle George. Straight out of hick town and already sloshed."

Zack glanced warily at the wide perimeter most folks—except the younger ones looking for amusement—had cleared around the older man. "Allll righty then."

"I'm going to run and change; but I'll be back in a few."

He suddenly grinned wickedly. "Need any help? I mean, pity that you've already showered, but—"

"Mind out of the gutter, Fair." Diana punched him in the shoulder but couldn't suppress a slight snicker of amusement at his tactics. "Ten minutes."

"Fine then, Loveless," he teased her, swooping down to lock lips with her again before she turned and slipped into the crowd like a white-and-brown shadow.

* * *

She paced back up the street, changed and ready again. Nine minutes and eighteen seconds had passed, incidentally, but she didn't know that. All she knew was that she was one heck of a lot more comfortable in a respectable tank top and nice jeans, with a dark purple hoodie and clean sneakers that could pass as 'nice-looking' (clean meaning not coated in mud, considerably stained, and/or only partially intact). She had kept her mother in mind. Not only that, but something had nagged at her as she went to pull on her pair of flats. Instead, she had gone for the sneakers, though she wasn't quite sure why. But she wasn't really thinking about it, and the thought never consciously came to the front of her mind.

All of a sudden, mid-pace, she was on edge. Something had moved. Then she immediately scolded herself. 'Something had moved.' Honestly. She really was getting paranoid. Yet, something told her to keep her senses open, so she did.

Out of nowhere not four seconds later, a mad laugh sounded and two figures slammed to the ground in front of her. She almost yelled, and stumbled backward, a logical corner of her mind absently calculating that they had to have jumped from a rooftop up and to her right. As she realized what she was seeing, her eyes widened, then narrowed. She settled into a defensive position.

In front of her, not ten yards away, was a bandersnatch. Almost wolf-like, with dagger teeth and claws and a mean attitude, it wasn't her greatest ambition to run into one on a dark street at night. It whipped its long tail angrily, growling at a pitch that unenhanced ears would not have detected.

Then a voice spoke. And it definitely wasn't the monster talking.

"So. This is it?" it drawled lazily. "You're all there is? I really was hoping for something more impressive…"

Diana tsked softly, like she knew what this guy—because it was a male voice—was talking about. He was standing to the side of the monster and slightly behind it, out of range of its thrashing tail. Like a coward. "And I always make such good first impressions. What a disappointment," she said with a hint of frostiness.

He chuckled coldly. "Does seem to have that same streak of stubbornness. This will be such fun."

_Fun? Doesn't that just sound nice and sadistic. And what's that mean—the same as who?_ "Excuse me? I don't believe we're acquainted," she replied, her eyes narrowing, partially in an effort to squint at him in the dark. The lack of light was usually fine for her to deal with, with her enhanced senses, but it didn't help that the guy was dressed all in black and his face was half hidden. From his silhouette and voice, he couldn't have been too much older than her—maybe the same age as Genesis or Angeal. She calculated—as was natural to her—that if he were to attack her, she might be at a disadvantage. He was fairly tall, not to mention solidly built. Oh, and the little fact that he had a monster that stood almost as tall as her at the shoulder apparently at his disposal didn't help much. And by the look of things, attacking was exactly what he was planning on. Decidedly not good.

She hadn't gotten a reply. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but—" She had to break off the threat when there was suddenly something large and aggressive charging at her. _Shit!_

She ducked and rolled under its lunge, coming up with her fists raised and glowing gray eyes wide as the man off to her right laughed humorlessly.

The monster growled low in its throat. She growled back quietly. It appeared to be taken aback, then its hackles rose and it growled more persistently, evidently trying to make its message clear. She let a vicious snarl rip up and out of her throat, the sound animalistic and hostile.

Apparently it took offense at this, because it charged again and was ready for her to slide underneath the attack. A massive paw, claws extended, halted her abruptly, and she was swatted to the side like a fly.

She almost yelped but bit it back as she hit the side of a building, cocking a fist back to go on the offensive. The monster didn't appreciate it very much when it was suddenly half blinded and something then nearly cracked its windpipe, and its jaws snapped dangerously close to Diana's right arm. She flipped back, springing at the partially dazed creature again on its blind side, driving her foot into the side of its neck and landing on its back. However, she couldn't grab onto a hold fast enough, and it shook her off, roaring angrily in pain and annoyance. It tried to clamp its jaws down on some part of her, and she barely got out of the way when it went for her right leg. She managed to strike it on the jaw and then backed away slowly. And as it turned to regard her straight on, teeth bared and claws flexing, she realized something.

No one was rushing outside to see the commotion…because tonight was a traditional night of familial celebration. Literally the entire town was at one block party or family gathering—all clear on the other side of town, in some sort of proximity to the town square. No one would hear the conflict. No one would be able to hear her scream. No one could help her.

It pounced, jaws open wide. But suddenly, Diana remembered a morning, a hellhound, and a battlefield, weeks away in the past. _Hey, look—something important_. Like lightning, she yanked a small knife out of her waistband—her only weapon, forgotten until now—and hurled it down the monster's throat, leaping to the side as it skidded in its tracks. It choked and growled, and finally its legs gave way and it collapsed. A moment later, a faint green glow confirmed that it was in fact dead.

An icy laugh made Diana freeze and whip her head around.

"Good. You do fight well." The strange man took two lazy steps in her direction, his posture lax; but she wasn't fooled. "In fact, you are rather…exceptional, I hear."

"You hear?" She straightened and faced him, trying to get her heart rate down to normal and her breath back in place in case she had another fight coming. "I wouldn't go quite that far. I'd check your sources if I were you."

"I assure you, Miss Loveless, my sources are quite accurate."

He knew her name? How could he know her? Well, okay, fair enough; she was related to half the town and her name was commonly known among anyone who might talk to a stranger on the street. But more importantly, how would he possibly have any access to records or knowledge of her…er, progress, shall we say? Unless, of course, he was bluffing—which wasn't too implausible a possibility. She had gotten out of plenty of tight situations herself with a few good bluffs. So far, the evidence suggested that he was a deranged psycho bent on killing her. Well, it wouldn't be the first time. She gave a mental shrug and regarded him with cool suspicion.

"No doubt they are. The question is, where do they come from?"

His mouth twisted into a creepy imitation of a smirk. "Oh, here and there. Although a good deal of my superior's information comes from those around and about at Shinra. Especially the SOLDIER unit. Tell me, Diana Loveless: how has Devon Loveless, SOLDIER Third Class, been lately?"

She blinked slowly. "Well enough, I imagine. Unless you're trying to imply something, in which case I wouldn't be too ecstatic."

"Come now, dear girl." He spread his hands imploringly. "Both you and I know that your brother is no more alive than you are dead. However…" He cocked his head very slightly, in a manner of mild curiosity. "That can easily be arranged to change."

She stared. She stared so hard for a second and a half that her eyes nearly fell out. He _was _informed…on _both _sides. Oh, this was bad. This was SO bad. Also, there was that implication of a death threat. But she had gotten those before.

"So tell me, Diana Loveless…SOLDIER of the Third Class…

Do you fear death?"

A little piece of her took a shuddering breath and began to panic—but another part of her sharply told the rest to stay strong and stand firm. She tilted her head up slightly in a kind of deadly pride, and her fists curled once more.

"Absolutely not," she whispered. "I fear NOTHING!" She shouted and launched herself at the man, who brought his hands up quickly—

* * *

He could move with more agility than she'd anticipated. She found herself being forced into more defensive maneuvers instead of attacking back. Recognizing his way of trying to back her into a corner, she played it out so she could get to an open area more easily.

* * *

Often, she didn't notice when she was struck in battle, because her adrenaline blocked out all messages of pain. This time, though, she was feeling the blows. After one too many, she became slightly apprehensive of just how many she could chance at taking. The monster had dissolved into green sparks, flashing and glowing as they drifted skyward, minutes ago; her knife was left behind, somewhere on the ground, but she had no idea where and no way to find out without skewering herself on it. She was weaponless.

* * *

She outright screamed for the first time when he bent her arm backwards over her head, so far and so sharply that she was sure he was going to break her shoulder. A brief vision of a useless dominant limb, the ligaments twisted beyond repair, the spears and splinters of bone protruding out from the fractured joints, filled her mind. It was smacked away as he flung her to the side. Almost like he was intentionally toying with her.

* * *

It was extremely frustrating to not be taken seriously. It was like she didn't even have room to show what she could do. The only problem was, here, she was having to pull every trick she could think of in each fraction of a second on her opponent. And none of them were working. For possibly the first time in her life, she had time to think about the fact, way back in the crevices of her consciousness, that she was up against an adversary that was clearly stronger than her, and that her cause was hopeless. Maybe she didn't have the chance to consider this at all in the midst of the whirlwind fight of life or death. Or maybe she was just refusing to think the fact through. Or just maybe, it had passed through her a long time ago, and she was just entirely unwilling to accept it.

* * *

…~'*'~..~'*'~.~'*'~..~'*'~…

* * *

Darkness.

Real darkness, creeping in around the edges of her vision. Not the darkness of night, of lack of brilliance—but of blindness.

Blindness. Not the real kind of blindness: the inability to see. But black was inching its way across her field of sight, threatening to choke out the parts that light still filtered into, enabling her to see the scene before her. Blots of ink, small pinpricks giving way to haphazard splatters.

She tried to gasp, to choke, to cough—anything. But nothing worked. Not when she clawed at the thing clamped around her neck, shutting off her air supply. Not when she tried in futility to kick out at the thing that was attached to what was strangling her. Not when her senses sent her into survival mode and she began to panic, erasing all rational thought and feeling.

She had tried to fight him—but he wasn't human. He couldn't have been, not with that strength. She hadn't received and endured such a beating in a long time. She had fought bravely and tirelessly, as well as she could. But it was never enough. Then, in a moment that should have passed too quickly for someone to see an opening, he had grabbed her by the neck and picked her up off the ground, slamming her into the nearest wall.

She grabbed at his hand, her attempts weakening with every ounce of air she was deprived of.

_This is how it will end? Because of something as silly as lack of air? Over my dead body…_

But, sadly, that seemed to be the point.

She tried to kick out at him, maybe catch him in just the right spot—but somehow, for once in her life, her legs didn't seem long enough.

And her hearing didn't seem clear enough, and that blackness was taking solid form around the perimeter of her vision, and her muscles were becoming slack and slightly numb. A rushing began to fill her ears, as though a thick liquid was slogging through her brain, and her heart rate climbed ever higher in an attempt to keep her failing body working.

And the last words she heard were: "It was a mistake, that time. But now, you're going to die…just like you were supposed to alongside your brother."

And distant sounds, like calling voices, filled her head behind the rushing noise, and suddenly there was no more pressure—but everything was black. And she didn't feel anything more.

**A/N: ...Thoughts...?**


	36. Wake Up

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Well. Now that I lost my original disclaimer and author's note...I really don't own anything.**

**A/N: WARNING: Character Death. ... Kidding, kidding! Don't worry! I couldn't kill her off D: especially not now! There shall be no death to be had for her. And also, a slight warning for, uhm, gore, I guess? It's nothing serious, but I don't know who's reading this or how much they know about dead bodies...um...heh. So I say that just to make sure. But, so, yeah, I forgot to make sure I was logged in again after opening the window that stays up almost all the time on my laptop, so I typed a huge author's note and then went to save it, and it told me I had to log in and I obviously lost what I'd done...so yeah. I just got back from the movies, I'm physically exhausted from that, mentally exhausted from the week before the last week before vacation o_o and I'm tired yet wide awake right now. And I apologize for the late update too, but, well, I haven't exactly had a lot of spare time... School plus natural night-owl tendencies of mine equates to a high schooler going to hell in a handbasket. But the movie was...well...not great. I saw Tron, but I don't want to spoil it, so I'll be quiet about that except that the graphics really were cool. (But hello, just saying, a Ducati Sport 1000 is _not_ a double-seater, my dear closing scene! It really does not work...) Anyways. So-very strange moment-my friends and I were in the mall before the movie, and apparently in this one store this guy walked behind me and totally checked out my butt. O_o I don't even _have_ a butt! -_- No worries, I didn't do any Diana-like ass-kicking, because that would have cause a scene and-no, kidding, kidding, I wouldn't do that. I actually didn't even see the guy, my friend just told me after o_o But, anyways!**

**Off the topic of my weird life...after that little rant I don't have enough time to respond to individual reviews, but I can say a few things in general that will clarify the questions. Nine reviews for the last chapter! :D So for starters: this mystery guy isn't all that they've got. He's just a lackey, a tool, I guess you could say. As for the greater purpose behind this, well, I'm not telling you that yet ) I also do constantly quote PotC, so the rum is in fact always gone XD And actually I have no clue where on Gaia you would find a bandersnatch, it's just that I found it in an index of FFVII monsters and it looked fairly vicious so I decided to use it. (As I've mentioned once or twice, I haven't played the game. I actually started writing for FFVII because of a youtube video that I found entirely by accident using a song by Within Tempation-I discovered them, too-****and I realized that the reason the characters looked familiar was that I'm pretty sure I played or watched my friend play when I was a lot younger, and the plot and characters are just ingenious.) _BrokenLonelyAngel,_ thanks for reviewing for the first time! You made me feel really good about myself :) And so, the plot does thicken! Quite a bit, really. A lot. To Sayonara: yes, I've been compulsively following Ordinary Day and the author UnderdogAngel for months! :D And finally: come on Zack, save her dammit! ! Oh, and a side note that you probably didn't pick up on as I'm one of the few nerds that takes Latin XD The title of the last chapter means "out of the light into the night". _Cool_, yes? Hahaha. Geeks unite!**

**Finally. We go forth! :) Enjoy.**

**Chapter 36: Wake Up**

"Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, okay—"

Air.

It was suddenly shoved forcibly into her, re-expanding her starving lungs, and she felt it, ever so slightly. But it went away, and she threatened to slip under again, when suddenly, it was back, pushing its way down her trachea and making her chest rise. But then it was gone again, and although just a bit more of her psyche was present, when it went away again, she was just on the edge of—

It came again; more powerfully, it seemed, but when it disappeared, her unfeeling senses awoke again and she coughed violently, her whole body being thrown off the ground. She convulsed for a second; trying to find the easiest way to get the air in again, before something pinned her down and the air went rushing into her again. A noise, by her left ear… A pause, during which she almost noticed the hard, rhythmic pushing on her chest; and it came again, filling her lungs almost all of the way with sweet, cool air; and after it left her again she felt its shocking absence and knew she had to get it back somehow. She had to get it back, no matter what, because it _hurt _without it, and somehow she took hold of the strength to bring it into her lungs by herself. It happened again, and she released a small sound of utmost relief at being able to get that wonderful life-giving substance into her body. Then, as she took a third shaky breath, her hearing came back. Everything sounded like it was coming from behind a thick, sound-blocking curtain at first. The curtain was pushed to the side, though, gradually, with each in and out of her breathing… breathing—

"—Breathing! She's breathing!"

What was happening? She still couldn't seem to…oh, but there it was… Slowly, an area was cleared in the middle of everything where something bright was coming through. It expanded, and so did the volume of the noise around her. All of a sudden, the curtain lifted completely, the veil over her eyes dissolved, and she inhaled deeply.

She tried to make a sound, her senses restored, although she couldn't focus to discern one noise from the next, or a shape from one next to it. A raspy groan came out.

"It's okay. Don't move, you're okay, it's okay…" A person. A person was making that noise. They were speaking to her…

Then everything shot—painfully—into focus, and she could see the contours of someone's face above hers through half-open eyes. That was right. She was on the ground…lying on the ground. And her throat hurt. Not the inside, which was a little scratchy, but the outside.

"Oh, Goddess, you're beat up…you look awful, but Gaia, you're _alive_—" Cool, trembling fingers touched themselves lightly to her throat, and then carefully gripped her shoulder. "Can you hear me? If there is anything holy in this world, then answer me, Diana," the person attached to the fingers whispered.

It was the sound of her name in the sound of that voice that made her blink herself into full awareness.

"I-I can hear…you." She coughed and turned her head gingerly towards the source of the voice. "Zack. You…came for me."

"Yeah," he gasped, grabbing one of her hands in both of his and pulling it to his chest. "Yeah, I did. You're alive…"

Her lips cracked into a half-smile. "I know I am…so thank you. Now give me a hand."

"Okay, be careful, though." He slid a hand behind her back and helped her to sit up slowly.

She flinched and threatened to fall back down and she laughed dryly. "Whoops. Head rush. Ugh. All right, I think I can—_oh_—" She had put down her left hand to push herself into a kneeling position, and she gasped in pain, cradling her hand to her stomach.

"What is it? Are you okay? That's a dumb question. What hurts? Tell me what hurts." Zack was right there, one arm around her, kneeling on the ground.

"I hate to break this up, but how are you feeling?" called a new voice.

The pain subsided a bit with lack of movement, and Diana looked up quickly. "Jon!"

Both men smiled. "The one and only," her cousin declared. "Can't you stay out of trouble?" He crouched on the ground in front of her and cut off her protests with a wave of his hand. "I know it probably wasn't your fault, but you can explain this whole freaky situation once we've got you in better shape." He glanced involuntarily behind him.

Diana followed his line of sight out of reflex, and watched as glowing green tendrils wrapped themselves around the body of her mysterious attacker. Flecks of light rose to the sky, and the body glowed faintly and flashed once as it dissolved back into the Lifestream. _May the spirit be put to better use next time_, Diana thought.

"Anything hurt, uh, more than the rest of you?" Jonathan asked as he scratched the back of his head, mostly to bring her attention back.

She gave a small shake of the head. "No, just my—_agh_." She had tried to move her hand again and her eyes that glowed an eerie golden amber-yellow in the darkness widened as she took in another sharp breath. "Ow."

"Your hand?" Zack asked worriedly.

"No, not my hand; my wrist—oh, Goddess. That's not nice," she groaned, extending her arm towards him, trying to keep from moving the joint.

"Uh-oh," Zack muttered, examining it without touching her.

"What?" Jonathan spoke up. "Broken?"

"Nearly shattered is more like it. The mako's already started to take effect, though, and it—it's healing wrong." Zack bit his lip. "Not good."

"Yeah, definitely doesn't feel right." Diana breathed deeply in and out in turn, trying to keep still.

Zack thought a moment, then came to a conclusion and appeared to brace himself. "Di?"

"Yeah?"

"…We're going to have to re-break it."

"…Oh, Gaia," she whispered.

"I'm so sorry, I know it's going to hurt—but we can't let it heal the rest of the way, or else I don't think it'll ever be fixable."

"Do it," she said stonily. "Just do it fast. It can't be worse than the first time, so just do it."

"Okay. Hold on…I'm so sorry…"

"Here." Jonathan held something up to her face. It was her sweatshirt that she had had to free herself of when her attacker had grabbed her by it at one point earlier. "You can bite down on it." He looked away.

"Thanks," she said, and stuffed a corner between her teeth as she steeled herself.

"Ready? Okay." He already had her arm in his hands, and only just opened his eyes. They had gone flat, the color of dark jeans. "One. Two. Three—"

She sank her teeth into the material between them, squeezing her eyes shut. She was no stranger to pain, but purposely breaking bones hurt like a _mother_. Incoherent streams of swears were streaking across her mind, and she tried to just breathe through it. _Not any worse than the first time_, she thought, the words barely lucid in her mind_._

Zack had whipped something out of one of his pockets and was now winding strips of material around her wrist and hand, making a tight brace. "Shh, you're okay, I'm so sorry, you're okay, it's better now. It's healing." And it was. The mako in her system was starting its work fast, knitting the bones back together, chipping away at the remnants of the pain. It stabbed and ached, but she stood, Zack's arm around her waist and her good one over his shoulder.

"To hell with this," he muttered, and lifted her onto his back, careful not to bump her left hand. "Let's get you back in working order, shall we?" Jonathan led the way back to Diana's house, only a street and a half away, where they got Diana upstairs to her room and turned around as she changed her slightly bloodied shirt.

"I'm good now, you can look," she directed towards them. She was still moving gingerly. The mako was healing her fast, and it felt unbelievably good, but it made her stiff, too. Most of her newly formed bruises were beginning to shrink, and the unpleasant feeling in her left wrist had been reduced to a dull throbbing.

"Give that to me." Jonathan held out his hand for her tank top. "I've gotten good at getting stains out." His cousin quirked a grateful smile at him as he exited the room and trotted downstairs.

"Oh my Goddess," Zack sighed, walking over to Diana and wrapping her in a tight embrace. "Would you stop getting into deadly situations? You're killing me, here."

"Hey, it isn't my fault people are out to kill me," she muttered, then realized what she had said. "Zack—that was literal."

He drew back. "What do you mean?" he asked in a low voice.

"Whoever that was…he said something about his 'superior' having access to information on both me…and Dev." Truth. "Right before I blacked out, he said something about me dying," Zack winced slightly, "like I should have before. He made it sound like…there was a mistake before, and all three of us were supposed to have died way back four months ago." Half-truth. "Or rather, been killed. Zack—" she looked him straight in the eyes— "They're out to get us." Very much the truth.

He took this in. Digested it, turned it over, looked at it from every angle, through every facet. Then he made a decision. "Not while I'm here," he declared, pulling her to him again.

She smiled into his shoulder. All her doubts faded away; all senses of foreboding were shoved aside, just for the moment. She turned her face up and their lips met.

* * *

"You know it was really Jon who did the real saving part, right?" Zack looked from his girlfriend to her cousin and back again.

"What?" she gaped at him. "I thought you showed up first!"

"So did I," Zack chuckled, "but then this one comes barreling out of nowhere from behind me, screaming his head off and charging at the psycho…"

"Jonathan…" Diana whispered. "Really?" She turned to him, her face positively glowing.

"Well, sure," he muttered, semi-self-consciously. "Couldn't just stand there, I could see he was really hurting you… I mean, Zack did the whole angry ass-kicking 'chop-him-into-pieces' thing. I was just attracting his attention."

"Yeah, yelling…what was it…?" Zack considered. "I believe it was something along the lines of 'not my cousin, you bastard!'"

"Er, something like that." Jonathan pointedly glanced around, taking a deep and sudden interest in the ceiling fan.

"Aw, Jon…" Diana hopped off the couch and wrapped her cousin in a hug. "Thanks."

"You would've done the same for me." A smile made its way across his face and he hugged her back.

A sudden noise from the front of the house made Zack tense, but both the Lovelesses recognized the pair of footsteps.

"Home already, kids?" Mrs. Loveless chirped from the hall into the living room, where Diana and Zack were seated on the couch, suddenly in the convenient midst of a heated discussion.

"Yeah, we escaped the insanity early!" Diana laughed. "Only maybe—" she checked the clock above the stove— "Twenty-five minutes ago."

"It was loads of fun, though," Zack grinned irresistibly. "_I _had a good time meeting all the crazy relatives, at least."

Mr. Loveless smiled. "Good, then. As for me, I think I'll abandon any attempt to stay up and just go to bed. Oh! Jon, what are you doing here?"

Diana's cousin grinned sheepishly. "Sorry Uncle Delos, we all got to talking and ended up here. I'll be going home now, though. Mum'll want to know where I am. Take care," he called to his friends, waving and backing out the door. He had given Diana a particularly significant look, and she knew exactly what it meant. She had explained everything that had happened while she was alone to him and Zack in the past several minutes, and Jonathan knew more of the truth than her boyfriend did, so he was more alarmed than he could let on. Truth be told, Diana was too, but she wasn't about to show it.

"We're both off to bed, don't stay up too late!" Chloe called, disappearing upstairs, Delos following a moment later.

"Look, what are we gonna—" Zack began in a rushed whisper.

"Shh." Diana pressed a finger to his lips. "It'll be a few days at the very least before word gets back to that guy's boss that he's dead and I'm not. I'll have plenty of time to explain everything to Dev, and we'll go from there. 'Kay?"

He mumbled somewhat discontentedly but had to agree. "Fine. Let's leave it at that. We leave tomorrow, right?"

"Yep. Plan is to get back into Midgar by dinnertime," she quirked a half-smile. "And Gaia knows I'll need the sleep. So goodnight." They both stood, and she wound her arms around his neck to kiss him for a long moment.

"'Night," Zack murmured, satisfied. Her logic did seem more sensible now… He pretended it wasn't his hormones talking and walked upstairs with her, a pensive smile curving his lips for minutes afterward.

* * *

**Monday, 19 August, 0811 hours**

Diana was sleeping. Quite comfortably, too, and in a somewhat familiar place.

The previous day, she and Zack had departed from Kalm amidst many, many goodbyes, including those of Jonathan and her parents. She had needed to say some more goodbyes in her head, too. She didn't know when she would be back, and there was a large part of her that was just so ready to let go of the past and move on. It felt…nice.

The trip home had been uneventful, unless you counted the old lady that had been hitting on Zack on the bus and then abruptly switched to making some _very _suggestive comments once she figured out that he was dating the tall brunette sitting next to him. That had been fairly awkward for all involved. Well, maybe not the [artially insane old lady. But Diana and Zack found themselves sitting there, giving each other some very weirded-out looks and debating whether to scream or to laugh hysterically, for several minutes after that little scenario.

She had been dead-tired when they finally got back to the dorms, and after that, well, she wouldn't remember until after awakening.

"Hey."

"…"

"Hey…"

"Mmmmmph…"

"Hello…"

"Hmmmm?"

"Hello!"

"… Hrmmmmmmm."

"For the love of Gaia, honestly—"

"NO!"

"Well, jeez, if you wanna sleep in that badly—"

"—What? !"

Diana tried to sit up fast but found her entire lower body ensnared in a considerable tangle of sheets. A hand on her shoulder pressed her back down and she relaxed slightly as her bleary vision focused on the object in front of her.

"Well, aren't you a happy one in the morning."

"Zack!" Her voice was, much to her chagrin, about half an octave higher than usual. And then there was the fact that Zack's face was, oh yeah, right in front of hers, grinning with that slightly insane look that he got when he was enjoying a private joke. She regarded him warily. "What's going on? Where…" She glanced around. _Wait a second…_ She half-gasped indignantly. "Zack Fair, you did _not _intentionally bring me back to your room." For the second time, she found herself waking up after sleeping, not _with_ Zack, but with Zack. He was still as gorgeous as ever, of course, lying next to her, and she would bet anything that he was more than willing to use that to his advantage.

"So what if I did?" The grin spread wider.

"So what—? So that's—that's—implying things and—and—mmmf!" She was abruptly cut off, for Zack had, as expected, taken advantage of her predicament that rendered her temporarily immobile and was now kissing her deeply. Of course, Diana wasn't really mad at him, and she untangled herself as well as she could before responding enthusiastically, her body pressing up against his.

Neither noticed when someone knocked softly, or when the door opened—at least, not until whomever it was made a strangled noise and backpedaled fast. They both sat up quickly, looking rather dazed and confused.

"What was that?" Diana asked hazily.

"Don't know. Could be important…" Zack groaned halfheartedly, quite reluctant to move from where he was.

Diana sighed. "Well, come on, then, you never know." She got up, albeit unsteadily, dragging him with her.

* * *

"I'm telling you guys, he's busy," Cloud was insisting to Max and Shane out in the corridor.

"Really? It can't be that important. He doesn't even keep important stuff in his rooms!" Max scoffed.

"Yeah, he does real stuff in his office," Shane agreed. "Let's go already and—"

"Er, no, I really don't think—" Cloud made a futile attempt to block them, but just then, the door opened.

"…Guys?" asked a bemused-looking Zack.

One of Cloud's roommates was about to make a witty comment, but was interrupted by the appearance of a figure just behind Zack, looking equally dazed. Come to mention it, they were both looking rather disheveled. Diana blinked in confusion as she peered over Zack's shoulder, and that did it for Shane and Max. They were practically on the floor, guffawing madly.

"Well, guess you were right after all, Cloud," Shane snorted.

"He _has _been busy!" Max chortled.

"What are…hey!" Diana yelped, finally grasping what they found so funny. "Don't go jumping to conclusions—!" She tried in futility to shove past Zack, and pointed an admonishing finger at the two helplessly laughing men.

"Ah, forget it, they're hopeless anyway." Zack rolled his eyes at his SOLDIER friends and closed the door again, throwing the bolt and locking Diana in another kiss. She laughed and threw her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

After a moment of just standing there holding her, Zack spoke again. "Remind me, every single day, to thank every single higher power out there that you're here."

"Where else would I be?" she hummed contentedly, her eyes closed.

"I meant more that you're here, alive and breathing."

Her breath hitched in her throat. A clock ticked somewhere. "Zack, you know I've been in risky spots before. This time was no different—just luck."

"Yeah, and that luck could have been completely bad." He held her at arms length and his eyes bored into hers. "What if we hadn't shown up? What then?" His voice took on a slight edge of borderline panic. "I could have lost you," he whispered. "And I almost did."

She didn't have anything to say to that. It was shocking how real the possibilities were. What if Zack and Jon hadn't come along to see why she had been gone for twice the amount of time she had told them? What if they hadn't gotten that twinge of suspicion that something was very wrong? What if they had, and been just a single minute later? What if Zack hadn't been able to resuscitate her? What if the two men hadn't been strong enough to take Diana's attacker by surprise and kill him? What if one of them had been killed in the process? What if she had been any weaker, made any slight mistake, and had her neck snapped like a twig before she knew what was happening?

She knew exactly what would have happened. Her lover and her cousin would have found her, broken, on the ground. Her eyes would still be wide and staring, reflecting the stars back like glass, and her lips would be swollen and blue from asphyxiation. There would be bruises in the shape of fingerprints on either side of her neck, the mako that should have healed them having no effect in cold death. If her body had been delayed from dissolving and returning to the Lifestream for long enough, her flaccid limbs would have frozen into rigor mortis after a much shorter period of time than the usual several hours. Her circulatory and respiratory systems would be long since failed, and her excretory and regenerative systems would release and give up before too long. Her eyes would go flat and seem to shrink in on themselves. Given a few more hours, and they would have found her apparently pale and ghostly, the lowest points of her body dark red and flushed with the downward draining of her blood after her heart had stopped pumping the blood through her veins. Her core temperature would be beginning to cool, and she would look like a marble statue soon.

She shivered slightly at the image, and Zack's lips tightened infinitesimally. "I know. It's scary. You scared me. I'm not letting you do that again." He pulled her to him again. "I won't let them near you. I'll protect you, and there's nothing you can do about it."

She raised her eyes to his. "You sure about that? Seems like a sizeable goal to me."

"Of course I am," he retorted stubbornly. "I love you, and that's not going to change. I'm not going anywhere, so you'll just have to put up with me for the rest of eternity." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and she couldn't help but return it.

"Don't worry—I believe in you no matter what," she whispered. "I love you, and I don't doubt you." And it was very true. She knew she was safe with him, as well as with everyone else around her; and now, she was prepared. But still some voice chanted in the back of her head:

_They killed my brother, and now they're coming after me._

**A/N: Of course she's not dead! Thank you, Zack, for your CPR training :P Haha, but yes, here we are, back in Midgar and with people out to get her and kill her! Oh joy! Yeah, so that's gonna be a problem. You know, a little. (Way to have the killer parting line here. Like, really. Can we say freaky?) The plot really is thickening, as I'm planning out the conclusion in more acute, dramatic detail o.o Let me tell you, it is going to blow you away. But for now, reviews are much appreciated, and I'll get some personal responses in next time. Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	37. Break All The Doors Down

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I did not receive the ownership of FFVII for Christmas. I did, however, receive a new laptop which I am typing on right now! :D**

**A/N: So yeah, I really did get a new laptop :) SO much joy! I really apologize for all the bold print, too...I just have some explaining and such to do. So sorry about the wait, you know how vacation goes. Travel. Family. Too much food. Cookies. (No Internet.) More cookies... I actually think I managed to gain, like, two pounds from eating crap constantly! :O I have the Diana complex, if you hadn't noticed XP runs around all the time, eats like a pig, yet is still built like a skinny tree...yep. I also noticed that I have two new reviewers to thank :) that shall come in a moment, but I have a discrepancy to address. Angel of Fate1 brought to my attention that a lot of my details are out of the canon timeline. This is very true and I'm going to go put something in the chapter one summary (it probably won't fit in the main one) that says I tweaked the timeline. So since I might have confused you, I'm going to go through and give you my summarized version:**

**~*~ Let's say that Sephiroth found out the truth about hiimself entirely by accident. There was no Nibelheim incident, no locking himself in the library of Shinra Manor. Maybe he got curious and spent days going through the Science Department database, and then failed to go insane. Sure, he probably went into shock for about a week and hasn't been quite the same since, but there was no killing rampage and all that. So of course, Vincent had no need to lock himself in a coffin in a basement either. Let's say that he found out the truth about the whole thing as well, but he's agreed to stay on with the Turks while he can. Cloud and Tifa obviously meet and all in my story, and that's out of canon too, but I love those two too much :) And on the subject of Tifa, of course she doesn't work at Shinra or anything-she's supposed to be organizing AVALANCHE with Barrett-but this is Crisis Core-based, so that isn't around yet. Also, I know Geostigma and Denzel don't appear until later, but I always thought of Tifa as such a mother figure that I guess Marlene and Denzel just kind of popped up and stuck around during my storyline. And everyone's ages are whack, too (I realized that the military age probably isn't 19 with this government running things, but that's okay). The degradation process of CC also makes an appearance-in this chapter, in fact. And, no, that wasn't a spoiler :P not really. You'll see later on how this affects everyone-now that I'm not gonna spoil-and it's like a semi-stressful sub-plot. So I think that's everything that I have to account for... Hope I helped :) ~*~**

**Now that I've sufficiently killed the whole idea of a shorter A/N...might as well go the full nine yards. I just wanted to say that the crazed humor is back! :D Things have been more dark and depressing than normal, but like I said last chapter, they're back in Midgar :) I'm also giving you a lovely little CloTi moment this chapter ^^ Which, by the way, this chapter goes right from the last one-think, like, five seconds in between. Now for the responses, to annoy you all further!**

**Angel of Fate1: New reviewer! So glad you've joined the ride! :D Thanks for all your really detailed plot analysis help-I probably should have mentioned the above giant paragraph earlier on, so thanks. And thanks for your compliments of Diana :) Trust me, I feel your pain with the chronic Mary-Sue-ness. I didn't know what that term meant until a couple weeks ago, at which point I a) became relieved Diana wasn't one, and b) started making a conscious effort to emphasize her imperfections. I hope it's working, because probably one of my favorite things about writing is character development, and with a story this long, it's way too much fun what you can do :) I guess she takes after me a little-it's really hard not to do that with a female OC, I guess-with the brown hair and the body type and the only-child-ness, but I really am trying to get her to be able to speak to everybody :) And yeah, I'm a tiny bit of a spelling/grammar freak (call me an English teacher, it's been done before) and it _really_ irritates me when people make majorly obvious mistakes. I mean, occasional slips or typos due to lack of sleep or whatever are fine, but still. :DDDDD You're going to write an OC story? YAY aw I feel special for having inspired you :) Let me know when you post it, I wanna read it :D I was so nervous when I posted my first story, like...erm...almost a year ago? Dear Gaia. Hahaha wow, but really, just throw it on out there :) that's what I did. So thanks for "stumbling" over here, and thanks for the lengthy review! Enjoy the chapter. :)**

**Shadow of a Broken Angel: You're welcome, and thanks for the review! Enjoy.**

**Shadow Ware: Another new reviewer! :D Aw, well thanks for reading against your will then, I guess...? Hahaha thank you so much! OHMAHGOSH you read Tamora Pierce? ! Ah-_mazing _books. Easily one of my favorite series. I actually did realize that Diana bears some resemblance to Alanna, what with the twin thing, the (sometimes) purple eyes thing, sneaking into the army, et cetera, once I'd written aways in. So here is the long-awaited update...finally. Haha, but it's a good long one, so hopefull that helps. I definitely won't be dropping this one-I've got the ending in the planning process, working on the finer points. But that won't come for a little while yet! So for now, thank you and enjoy :) sugar highs are great, by the way.**

**LoveTheCrazy: No words need to be said XD and yes, rather creepy. Ah, well. What are ya gonna do. Hahaha I certainly wouldn't mind that either...! Lol, enjoy.**

**Shatter: You're wellllllcome :) Heh. I know, right? Wasn't that great? I was like, hmm, hero rescue...? I think YES! I mean, heck, she did her best-apparently she just needs Zack ^^ Hahaha. Right? He's kind of the master of potentially awkward situations. And then making them ten times weirder than they need to be and walking away totally unfazed xD Yay for Di! And happy holidays to you, too! Here, have an update. :)**

**Sayonara: *shudder* I know...it wasn't too fun to write. She had to break something, though-she's not completely invincible or anything like that, and I thought it kinda added to the drama. But yay fluff! :D And yeah, a pretty scary thought...*cue the ominous music* Thanks for reviewing! Enjoy!**

**Sarah: Rescue mission accomplished, yes :) Yeah, I was actually surprised to look at my master document and see how much of their time they spent in Kalm o.o I guess a lot went on, though, so... But yeah, same for me with the crazed roommates xD I have way too much fun writing those two. Thanks, enjoy the chapter!**

**BrokenLonelyAngel: Why thank you ;) And I don't even watch House or Bones! XP (I have a friend who does, and she's practically incoherent when you get her going on criminal evidence and such O.o I just pick things up from here and there.) And I was kinda feeling the need for some good creepy-dead-whatever type stuff, so there it was. Anyway! Thanks, and yes to comedic relief :3 they complete my life. Yeah, about that whole...college idea...*shifty eyes* haha, I don't want to think about the fact that I have to start looking at colleges next year. Kill me... But! Merry Christmas to you too, and here's a...holiday update? I dunno. But enjoy! :D**

**Shout-out to Ultimate-Freedom, who I will be seeing to blow stuff up with (CAN I GET A "HELL YEAH" FOR (presumably) LEGAL EXPLOSIVES? !) in approximately two hours and twenty minutes! She has finally begun to catch up on her reading! (I got a text from her earlier, asking "How old is Genesis? !" in response to chapter...29?...and in response I called her and screamed into the phone "HOW MUCH DID YOU READ? !") Ahem. We're entirely normal. You can trust us with these explosives tonight...**

**Oh yeah, and... HAPPY NEW YEAR! ! ! (from here, in approximately six hours and nineteen minutes, but that's not important.)**

**Chapter 37: Break All The Doors Down**

"ZACHARY!" a voice bellowed, seeming to come from the walls themselves, and they both jumped.

"Wuh-oh," Zack muttered apprehensively.

"Hide!" Diana hissed, pretty sure that she recognized the enraged bellowing noises to be the voice of Zack's mentor. "I'll save you!" She flashed him a grin and shoved him in the direction of the handy all-purpose closet that she had had to cram into with her friends before. Oh, how well she remembered that night of shenanigans…

THUD. THUD. THUD.

"Erm." Diana sidled up to the door, pressing one ear against it, then winced and backpedaled fast when the noise just about blew out her right eardrum.

_THUD_. "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! I CAN HEAR YOU BREATHING!"

"'Cause that's not creepy at all," Diana muttered under her breath, peering through the crack at the edge of the door, trying to get an idea of where the big SOLDIER was standing and how likely he was to bash the door in on her.

"AND I CAN HEAR YOU MUTTERING TO YOURSELF…!"

_Jeez, what'd Zack do? He's been here all night, what could have possibly…_ She was dimly aware of Angeal roaring some more, but her thoughts were temporarily elsewhere, as her wandering gaze had fallen on the clock on Zack's nightstand. Thirty-nine minutes and forty seconds after he was supposed to have shown up for training that morning. _He knew it, too; he just stayed with me as long as he could…_ Her heart swelled for him, and she resolved to make him aware of her appreciation as soon as they weren't both in imminent danger.

"…_THREE_!"

_Three what? Chocolate-covered chocobos?_ she got the chance to think absently before the door slammed open. Thinking back on it, she would marvel at how she managed to get herself pinned perfectly in between the door and the wall, just like in those cartoons. Maybe because it was Angeal who crushed her between the very solid wooden door and the very hard wooden wall.

She could tell he was now standing in the doorway, whipping his head back and forth, trying to locate whoever had been standing there three seconds previously.

"Very funny, now where are you?" he yelled, but the volume had subsided significantly. "Huh?" He had noticed that the door hadn't left a dramatic crack in the wall, as he had partially intended, just as an extra...enforcement. In fact, something seemed to be preventing it from doing so.

"Holy _shit_," Diana hacked, trying to breathe. This was not a sensation that she enjoyed, at _all_. Especially after the events of the night before last. The pressure stopped suddenly and she very nearly keeled over forward, coughing like a lung was coming up. Instead, she caught herself and slid halfway down the wall.

"What the—Diana?" the SOLDIER asked in disbelief.

"No, it's the pizza delivery from hell," she wheezed. "You want fries with that?"

Definitely Diana. "Are you okay? What are you doing here—?" He gave her a (very apologetic) hand up.

"I'm okay, you just nearly gave me a heart attack," she panted. "See, that's the thing, er…" She had just realized that she had to pull a story out of nowhere, when a blur came hurtling out of the closet at her.

"DI! Are you okay? ! What happened? ! It sounded like someone got thrown into a wall—" Zack skidded to a stop beside her, one arm already around her shoulders. He stopped when he saw the mildly guilty look on his mentor's face. Said mentor caught this, and suddenly recalled that he was here to beat down his Puppy's door. He put on the scary face again. Zack faltered and whimpered slightly, edging backwards into the room.

Diana quickly stepped in front of him. "Aw, Angeal, it wasn't his fault." She pouted slightly. "Zack just didn't want to wake me up. I thought it was really sweet of him to wait up for me…" She could see the First's resolve crumbling, and she turned on the puppy eyes as much as she could, having picked it up from Zack. "He was just being nice. For me."

Angeal blinked once. …Dammit. "Ten minutes." He pointedly sternly at Zack, who was cowering behind Diana, and stalked out of the room, not bothering to shut the door.

"You're incredible," Zack stated, straightening up and staring at Diana.

"Hey, you owe me one now—" She poked him in the chest, then reconsidered. "Actually…I'll need to do this a lot more often to repay you. But I guess, technically, we're even, if you count that time—"

"—Earlier this summer, when I told you to stay back and you so artfully got yourself into the middle of things anyway?" he smirked. "Yep, I remember. I guess you're right."

"Finally, then, we're even," she smiled gently. She raised her eyes and reached up to kiss him for a long moment. "That was for luck," she whispered.

He grinned cockily. "I should get into trouble more often."

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "See you later."

"Bye, love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

She was strolling casually, but with a purpose, down the corridors of another building several minutes later, her backpack from the weekend slung over her shoulder. She had to see Tifa, and fast. There was one hell of a lot of explaining to do, yet again.

Her boots sounded rhythmically on the hardwood floor, making a dull thump each time her heels fell. She began singing under her breath, to a tune she had heard Tifa singing before, in time to the beat of her shoes that was somehow oddly comforting. All it was was a steady pulse, something with which to keep pace. It kept thumping on, like a pounding heartbeat, like a beating drum. Her song matched it, even when the pulse doubled in time as she trotted up two flights of stairs. She didn't lose her breath at all, and just kept walking and singing to herself-she couldn't sing for her life, but it didn't even matter-all the way to her best friend's door.

Hearing sounds from within, she listened for a second to make sure she wasn't interrupting…anything. To her surprise, music was playing, plenty loud enough for her to pick up but soft to normal ears. It was the same song she had been singing on the way; it was quiet but upbeat, and it was one of Tifa's favorites. Over the female singer's voice and guitar solo, Diana heard a peal of laughter. That was Tifa, and she was presumably with Cloud, from the tone of her voice. She could tell that they were in the next room of the apartment, around a corner judging by the echo, and wouldn't notice if the door opened. Well, she amended, Cloud might hear it, but not in this state. If she were to make a well-educated guess, she would say that he would be far too engrossed in Tifa's presence to be paying attention to anything else at all.

So she turned the worn brass knob slowly and inched the door open, gently placing her backpack down just inside after extracting an oversized sweatshirt from it. She flinched and pulled back when she saw movement, but she quickly realized that they wouldn't be noticing her poking her head in the door. However, they weren't doing what an outsider would immediately assume.

In the next room, they passed the doorway again, not looking through it to the anteroom that Diana was peering into. They were dancing.

Cloud had one hand on the small of Tifa's back, and his other was twined together with hers. Tifa's other arm was curved up and over his shoulder and she gazed up at him happily. She laughed again as they spun across the room; not moving in time with the music, but she didn't care. Cloud spun her out and back to him, and Diana saw him close his eyes for a brief moment as Tifa was braced to his chest for a second and a half. They whirled back across the floor, graceful and uncaring.

Tifa always carried a feeling of effortless grace with her, but not in the delicate connotation that the word held. She was like a lithe animal that moved in smooth, fluid motions and held an unreal quantity of strength behind each action. Now she moved like a liquid, dark ribbon in Cloud's arms, her long hair swishing behind her.

Cloud was always the quiet, slightly reserved, thoughtful one. However, no one could deny that he was absolutely magic with a sword when given the opportunity. He had learned a now natural pattern of motions that not only kept him from tripping over his own feet, but gave him an innate ease of movement that made the difference between the chocobo and the bird of prey. With Tifa, he was always gentle and oh so adoring, and when they were together like this, they blended effortlessly.

He twirled Tifa around again and spun her into an unexpected kiss that made Diana smile and duck her head, backing up and closing the door silently.

If that wasn't love, then love didn't exist.

Maybe she'd come back later. She had begun to pace off in the opposite direction, intending to just turn back into Devon for the rest of the day, when someone spoke from a side hall.

"Hey, hot stuff."

She turned only her head, honestly not surprised in the least. "Reno." She nodded to the redhead.

"Jeez, you're too hard to surprise. You're like my boss, yo!" he complained, hands stuffed in his pockets. "So. Where's Fair?"

"Why would I know?" she asked suspiciously, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, for one, you're _together_, yo. And for another, you're coming from his room, right?"

She blinked. "How did you—no. You know what, I don't even want to know."

"Probably not, yo." He suddenly cast her a sly glance. "So Fair got lucky, eh?"

She figured out what he was saying after a second, then felt that she was really way too innately clueless at times to be legal. "Absolutely not! Just 'cause I—I spent the night there does not mean I _spent the night _there—!" she spluttered.

"Right, right," he snorted and waved a hand.

"No! But seriously—!"

"Yeah, I got it, yo. So, visiting Seventh Heaven again anytime soon?" He grinned cockily. "I hear it's a great place to pick up this and that."

She rolled her eyes, hands on hips. "Riiiiight. In your sick dreams."

"Well, hell, I dunno, yo. Think your boyfriend'd mind sharing?" He smirked obnoxiously.

"Oh Goddess," she muttered. "I think he just might." She gave an undignified snort at the idea. "Give me one reason I'd even think of anything involving you."

He winked cheekily. "'Cause I'm so sexy?"

"Try again," she deadpanned.

His head swiveled slowly to focus directly on her. A grin spread over his angular face, slowly and dangerously. She cocked an eyebrow, daring him to say whatever was going through his mind.

"…And I have a _really big rod_." He reached into his back pocket and Diana's eyes widened infinitesimally at the thought of what he was about to pull out. He whipped out one of those electric stick things that that Turks were so fond of and pointed it at her face. She stared at it, then her eyes slid back to him. He appeared to be on the edge of a mad snickering fit. _Well, we can certainly take care of that._

Faster than his simply human eyes could track, she snatched it out of his hand. It wasn't on, thank the Goddess, and she smirked at the expression on his face. To add insult to injury, she remarked absently: "I wonder if these rods break. You know, if you try hard enough."

He blanched slightly. "Okay, now give it back, yo." His voice was just above the normal comfort zone, and it was all she could do not to break down into laughing fits right there.

"Oh, I think not."

"Nuh-uh. Give it back, yo, come on!" he whined.

"Well, since you asked nicely…catch it if you can!" And she was off like a shot, running madly for the nearest staircase.

"H—WHAT? HEY! HEY, YO—" He wasn't too slow on the uptake, and went pelting after her.

* * *

"Sorry 'scuse me sorry AGH sorry!" She skidded through the halls of yet another dorm complex as Reno continued to tail her. _Damn. He must really want his rod back._ He was going to tire out eventually, since of course he was only human, but he was being exceptionally stubborn and she was becoming slightly bored with dodging cadets and receiving more strange looks than usual.

That is, until she spotted a short, skinny figure with a bob of black hair and a sassy attitude.

"Yuffie! Hey, Yuff!"

The girl whipped around in a ready position that, to Diana's surprise, was quite legitimate, as opposed to a random cheesy ninja pose. Diana panted only slightly as she screeched to a halt in front of the sixteen-year-old. "Hey, you wanna annoy Reno?" she inquired, grinning.

"Sure!" the ninja chirped, then abruptly looked childishly suspicious. "Why…?"

"Because it's Reno," Diana pointed out. Yuffie shrugged in agreement. "I've got his electric rod—" she held it up— "and he wants it back…badly. We wouldn't want him to get his hands on it too easily, now would we?" she smiled evilly.

"Of course not!" Yuffie sniggered. "Hi there, Reno!" As the redhead tore into view, looking around wildly for the brunette, the teenager jumped up and down, waving the rod madly. "Come and get iiiiiit!" she taunted, turning to pelt in the opposite direction down the hall.

Reno was swearing a blue streak—make that two blue streaks—by now, and Diana could hear him spouting curses that would make Cid Highwind the pilot proud even after he had disappeared from view.

"Why must you give her the incentive?" sighed a deep voice from beside Diana, who blinked in surprise as she involuntarily tightened her hold on the sweatshirt still in her hands.

"Hi, sorry, didn't see you. What's your na… Wait a second." She peered at the man who had materialized next to her. Those eyes looked awfully familiar, and no one else had that long black hair, although it was now pulled back in a neat ponytail. "Vincent?"

"That would be me."

"Wow. Uh…on the job, I guess?" she inquired. Instead of the red-and-black getup she had first seen him in—_when he saved my life and Zack's_, she reminded herself—he was wearing an official Turks suit. His hair was a dead giveaway, but his eyes were a deep amber instead of blood red. She supposed it depended upon when that demon thing inside of him took over, and he did appear to be in business mode at the moment. Not to mention she could see all of his face, finally. Yuffie had been right—he was quite handsome, just probably one of the most intimidating people she had ever encountered. He immediately struck her as _dangerous_, but in a way that was even more disturbing than clear brute strength. In a way, he reminded her of Sephiroth.

"Correct. I was attempting to keep the little menace from doing anything unnecessarily loud or rash, but I suppose that can now be considered a lost cause," he replied dryly.

"Heh. Sorry about that. At least she's having fun," Diana shrugged. "Hey, what're you doing around here, though? This is a SOLDIER complex." She examined him suspiciously.

"All that brings me here is the mediocrity of business. Oh, and the rooms of the General and the two Commanders are that way." He waved down the hall, indicating that she go left.

"I—wait, what? I know they're in this building. Why would I be looking for them?" A wrinkle appeared between her eyes as her eyebrows drew together in increasing confusion.

"No clear reason in particular. I just believed you might want to pay your friends a visit," he offered vaguely. "I must be going now and making some kind of attempt to do my job. I will see you again soon."

_Why does everyone seem to know things that they shouldn't today? _"Er…great. All right, then, sorry again and it was nice seeing you!" she called after him, as he was already striding away. "All of you," she muttered as an afterthought. _Now the question is: do I take a hint from vampire-man, or do I run for it? …Oh, come on. That's hardly a question. Run away? As if._

She prayed that it wouldn't be awkward as she paced down the hall, towards Sephiroth's, Angeal's, and Genesis' rooms. It had been really strange seeing Genesis after he had kissed her, during that period of time after she had broken up with Zack. But shortly after that, he had been deployed to Wutai and had been gone for over a week and a half. Supposedly, he had only recently returned. She had still prayed that he would come back safely, because he had grown into a close friend during the two weeks when she needed someone the most, and he was a great guy. She supposed that he was perfectly unharmed from the mission, as she hadn't heard otherwise, and hopefully she could have a decent, conscience-clearing conversation with him. She still felt guilty for letting him kiss her, then getting back together with her boyfriend days later, and she hoped to rectify that.

She rapped three times on the nearest door down the left-branching hall. No response, but definite movement on the other side of the door. She knocked again, harder. Again, noise came, but no acknowledgment.

"I'll just break it down," she threatened, and suddenly, it was opened in front of her. "Oh. Hey, General. Way to ignore me." She pulled a bit of a face at him in a manner that probably wasn't conducive to her whole 'not-get-killed' objective.

"Hello, Diana."

"Hey, you remember me!" she brightened. Thinking back on it very carefully, she realized that she had only met him once as herself, for all the times she had spoken with him as Devon. Seventh Heaven had been their only encounter, and he had been completely hammered, sloshed, wasted, and all of the above, so it hardly counted. Then again, who else could she possibly be, considering he was familiar with her 'identical twin'? A strange tangent thought crossed her mind. _What happens if someone sees me in passing and doesn't know whether I'm Diana or Devon? How do they ever tell…? Oh, right. My boobs. Kind of._

She gave a highly inappropriate snort at that and Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"So how may I be of help to you?" he inquired.

"Well…I know Angeal just left. But is Genesis in his rooms? Just wanted to say hi." She bounced on her toes.

"I believe he is. Next one on the right."

"Great! Fabulous. See you later, Seph!" she grinned, sidling up to the door across the hall.

The General made a face. "The Puppy is teaching you bad habits," he said dryly, but with an unusual note of amusement.

"I wholeheartedly agree," she said with feeling as she knocked on Genesis' door. Sephiroth rolled his eyes and the ghost of a smile passed over his face as he closed his door and retreated back into his rooms.

Just like before, there was a second of silence, followed by the rustle of movement.

She knocked again.

"Whoever you are, I'm busy!" came his slightly irritated voice, muffled through the wood of the door.

"Genesis, it's Diana, and if you don't open up, you know I'll break it down!"

Another beat of silence, during which he presumably paused to consider the likelihood of her following through on that. He apparently opted to keep his front door intact, because Diana heard him stalk to the door and open it a foot and a half.

"Diana!" He flung the door open wider.

"Who were you expecting, the delivery man from Kalm Fried Chocobo?" She crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow.

"Er, no, just—never mind."

An awkward silence ensued. Both knew that the other was thinking about the last time they had seen each other, and they both knew it, too.

"Look, Diana, I—"

"Don't bother."

He shot her a confused look that was just a little bit hurt. "What?"

"I know. You're going to try to say that what happened was wrong. Don't worry about it—I think we've both moved on and all, so…"

"…I was actually going to say I was sorry." This he directed at her knees.

She blinked and her brow furrowed. "Wait, what?"

"Here, come in. Where are my manners?" He smiled ruefully at the carpet.

"O-okay…" She stepped inside and settled herself on the couch that he directed her towards, not taking her eyes off him.

He sat, glancing absently at anything below eye level. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have acted…that way…towards you, but I did, against my better judgment, and—"

She cut him off. "Genesis, you don't have a thing to be sorry for." He looked up in surprise. "So it was an impulse. So what? You obviously don't feel right about it, and I don't mind now that it's over with, so there's nothing to apologize for." She gave him a small smile.

He was slightly at a loss for words, and he raised his eyes, looking just like a guilty child. "Honestly?"

"Yes, honestly. And of course you're still my friend. You were really good to me, you know." She tilted her head to the side.

"I—thank you." Genesis finally looked her straight in the face and met her eyes. "Yes. Thanks for that. How did you know that was what I was thinking?"

"I just know you that well. I believe this constitutes a hug. Come here." Diana stood up and held her arms out to him with a smile. The auburn-haired SOLDIER sighed and rose to stand a few inches taller than her, and she hugged him tightly. "I love you like a brother, and that isn't going to change that easily."

He smiled over the top of her head and embraced her back. "Of course not. Little sister," he tacked on.

She laughed into his shoulder and nearly choked on it. How long had it been since she had heard those words? Only by three minutes and forty seconds, but her brother had taken every chance he could get to remind her of his elder status.

She let him go and smiled at him. "Now that that's done with. What's been up with you lately?"

He started to reply, but blinked suddenly at her. "Di, your eyes…"

"What? Ohh! What color are they? !" She spun around, looking for a mirror, as he of all people would be bound to have one in plain sight. Spying one on the far wall, she darted over to it and stuck her face up an inch from the glass, leaving a spot of fog from her breath on it as she examined her own eyes. "Oh, wow, thanks, Gen. This a new one!"

"Huh?" he asked articulately, a bit lost and confused by this time. "Wait, I thought your eyes were gray!"

She waved a hand unimportantly. "No, that was just during the two weeks that we hung out so much. I was mostly mopey, but not enough that they were violet and not so that—"

"Hang on, you have _purple _eyes now?" He squeezed his eyes shut and held his head in one hand.

"I explained the genetic experimentation thing to you, didn't I? I must have," she said patiently, as the continued to study her irises. There was a ring of hazel around the inside, but most of the color was a warm chocolate brown.

"Yes, you did."

"I thought so. So the whole gene-changing thing?"

"Yes?"

"It comes out in my hair and my eyes. There's no way to predict the hair—which, by the way, gets really irritating when it decides to change color—but my eyes go by my emotions. It gets annoying, too, because people that know me well enough know how I really feel one hundred percent of the time, if they're paying enough attention. That's what I get for having my nineteenth chromosome screwed with," she continued offhandedly with a snort. "Teef and I figured it out, based on what color people tell me they see during which events, and it's actually kind of cool." She quirked a final grin at her reflection as the color tended more towards hazel, inching back towards green slowly.

"That's, er…interesting." Genesis raised an eyebrow. "I had no idea science could do that. Quite intriguing, really. So what does each color correspond to?" he asked, his curiosity piqued nevertheless.

"Well, the first to go was gray, because that's when I'm mildly annoyed or feeling just a little strongly about something. That's common enough. Then blue is when I'm really happy, like _ecstatic _about something, or I'm feeling a ton of hope."

"So that explains why all of those days, they were gray. You were lonely." The corner of his mouth twitched up. "Of course. That's logical. What else?"

"Well, this grayish-green blend is my completely neutral color, just when I'm chilling out and stuff. We're really not quite sure what green is, but we think it's like gray, only when I'm affected in a positive way. It's my normal color, seeing as how I'm not perpetually pissed off…well, not usually, at least…" she frowned slightly, thinking of a few possibilities.

Genesis nodded. "Makes sense to me. Go on."

"Purple was tough, because I only ever saw it once in the mirror, and the other time, it was Devon that it happened to—" she winced inwardly at the lie and forgot the rest of her sentence, but Genesis was ready with a question.

"Your brother's work exactly the same as yours?"

"Yeah. Same way. Twin thing, I guess. So anyway, Zack saw Dev's eyes go violet, but he didn't remember til later 'cause he was kinda unconscious… It was the Wutai mission with Sephiroth back in June," she explained. "I got the long story, but the short version is that Zack was sacrificing himself to get the other guys out alive, but, well, that wasn't gonna fly with Dev, I guess." She laughed dryly. "'Cause he flung himself in front of Zack and got shot twice, the reckless idiot. Of course I'm glad he did it; Zack was a goner otherwise. But anyway, Zack was nearly passed out on the ground from wounds anyway, and Dev thought he was watching his friend die and actually started yelling at him, and Zack told me later that my brother's eyes were purple then."

"Wow," Genesis murmured. "That really is something. So in short, purple is hopelessly depressed."

"Basically. The last one I figured out was yellow."

"_Yellow_?" he asked in exasperation. "Okay, granted, I understand that violet eyes are not exactly common, but yellow?"

"Well, I'm not exactly common, am I?" She asked rhetorically, blowing a piece of hair out of her eyes. "That was when I nearly got killed by that psycho and I broke my wrist and I hurt all over. So I figured that yellow signified extreme pain. And—"

"You nearly got _what_? !" he all but roared.

"Killed. Murdered. Murder of the first degree, actually," she considered. "Premeditated homicide and all that."

"Ex_cuse_ me?" he blustered. "_What happened?_" He had gotten up and was in her face.

So she explained the entire story of her encounter the night before last. He was floored, to say the least. There were the common questions—who could he have been, why would he do it, et cetera—and Diana thought wryly that she would have to go through all this at least once again that day. Finally he calmed down, which took some doing, and they reverted back to the original topic.

"Brown. What could brown mean? We were being all nice and emotional," she shot Genesis a grin, "so I suppose when I'm being particularly open with my feelings? Or maybe showing care for someone?"

"I would say so, yes," the (other) SOLDIER agreed. He got up and strode into the kitchen, opening a cupboard and turning on the tap. "Water?"

"Sure. Thanks." She yawned briefly, thankful for the extra sleeping time that she had gotten that morning.

He took a glass in each hand and walked back over to her, barely starting to extend the one in his left hand but abruptly pulling it back. The corners of his mouth tightened slightly and his eyebrows drew together just a fraction of a millimeter. But Diana noticed. He passed her the one in his right hand instead and sat on the couch next to her.

As he sat and raised his glass to his lips, she spoke. "So what's wrong with your left arm?"

He gagged slightly, and tried and failed to cover it up.

"Come on, Genesis, I'm not quite that unobservant. Did you hurt it in Wutai?" she asked in sympathy. "Join the injured limbs club," she muttered, glancing at her left wrist.

His mouth tightened slightly as he took a fleeting look at her injury, still tightly bandaged up, but when he met her eyes he then looked pointedly away. "It's nothing—just something small."

"You know when you say that, you're just digging the hole deeper for yourself." She blew out a breath exasperatedly. "So what is it? Strain, fracture, or laceration?"

Evidently deciding that he wasn't getting out of anything, he muttered, "It's just a scratch."

"Okay, hand over the shovel before you hit groundwater. Come on, when did you get it?"

"Just an accident during training. Angeal and Sephiroth and I—" he broke off and looked on the verge of fidgeting uncomfortably. "Er, that is to say…we snuck into training room forty-nine while all the Seconds and Thirds were out."

She huffed at him in disapproval. "Again?"

"What do you mean, again?" he asked in surprise, obviously miffed.

"I hear everything, Gen." She waved a hand dismissively. "I don't even want specifics—Gaia only knows what you three have done to the condition of half the sims rooms. So how long ago did it happen?"

"…Friday the ninth. Just a couple days after I last saw you."

"Whoa, whoa, hang on. It's been a week and a half, and it's still bothering you?" she asked incredulously. "I know for a fact that SOLDIERs heal faster than that. Even I do," she added for good measure. "My wrist will be fine by this time tomorrow."

"Hmph. Well. That's what I thought, too, but I'm not sure what's going on," he relented. "I went to one of the Shinra doctors and he had no explanation, so I tried the Science Department and—"

"For the love of Gaia, don't trust the mental scientists!" Diana all but shrieked. "They'll tell you that half your body is defective, then slice you open and poke at your internal organs until you're irreversibly paralyzed and—"

"Diana, Diana! Relax." Genesis reached toward her placatingly. "I didn't actually show it to them. I just asked about a wound that wouldn't heal."

She unwound a little bit. "Oh. Well, okay, but still. What'd they say?"

He gave an undignified snort. "Think about it. They're dumb Shinra scientists. They said to wait it out, of course."

"Hm. Naturally. Can I see it?" she asked hesitantly.

He sighed and looked at her. Diana wasn't planning on making him do so if he didn't want to or pressing that matter at all, but he didn't know that, so he figured it wasn't worth fighting it out. "Fine, just for a moment—" He shrugged off his red coat, which gave Diana a bit of a surprise. He never took off his coat—she practically thought the leather was bonded to his skin by now. Underneath, he was wearing the standard black First Class uniform. A mass of bandages wrapped around his shoulder and upper arm, and he carefully unwound these, dropping them into his lap. They became increasingly covered in various substances, blood being among them, the farther he got.

"Oh, Gaia, Genesis," Diana half-gasped at the wound that was now visible. She shifted so that she was facing him and regarded the gash in shock.

It ran from just below his collarbone, over his muscled shoulder, and ended abruptly as soon as it reached his back. It was as if something had been thrown at him from the front, and Diana assumed that that was some version of what had happened. The area around it was red and looked infected and sore, the skin raised slightly. The cut itself was considerably wide and deep, and she was surprised that it hadn't gone through to the bone. There was dried blood, rusty brown and cracked, around the edges, and goopy yellowish liquid oozed from the spots that looked like they had been torn open most recently. It also looked to be bruised underneath, which suggested a heavy impact. Diana almost dared to ask what the hell did this to him, but bit it back. She tentatively reached out two fingers to touch the edge of the discolored area, but Genesis hissed and recoiled as soon as she made contact.

"Holy Goddess. It's really hurting you, isn't it?" she said worriedly.

"On occasion," he muttered, not looking at her.

She tsked. "How are you moving? You haven't been training the same amount on this, have you—?" she demanded, then thought of something and shot him a shrewd glare. "You were in Wutai with this."

"Look, I didn't have a choice, really. It was just before I left and I figured it would heal over on the way…"

"But it didn't!" she exclaimed. "I bet you picked up some kind of nasty foreign disease, too, have you seen how infected this is? No wonder the medics didn't know what to do with you."

"If I just give it time—" he protested stubbornly.

She shook her head. "Bullshit. It's been a week and a half, Genesis. That's a nasty one, but it should have taken three or four days at most, even with a bad infection."

He gritted his teeth. "I know that! But what else am I supposed to do? _No one knows what's wrong with me_."

She threw her hands in the air. "Who have you told, then? Do Angeal and Sephiroth know?"

He growled slightly and glared at the wall off to his right.

She crossed her arms. "Genesis…!"

"What, like you don't keep secrets when something isn't right?" he retorted scathingly.

She jumped slightly. "Like what?" she asked carefully. He couldn't possibly mean...no, no one else could have any idea...

"Just…things," he replied vaguely. When she raised an eyebrow crossly at him, he amended his statement. He shrugged. "Fair blabs. Angeal listens. Angeal talks. I hear things."

"Great," she muttered, somewhat relieved that her immediate instinct had been wrong. "Well, nothing like _this _has ever happened to me!" she said defensively.

"Mm-hm? And what about all those bruises you show up with almost every time you see Fair that you won't explain to him? Those also heal unnaturally fast, am I right?" he smirked, leaning over the side of the couch to pick up a fresh roll of bandages.

"I—that's just from training and—odd jobs—random things—" she stuttered, taken off guard. Did she really worry Zack that much? It wasn't like she didn't have a good excuse for being so beaten up all the time—she hardly even took notice of soreness anymore—but it wasn't like she could give a full explanation! Then again, a small voice in her head countered, why continue to be so secretive? It was at times like these that she seriously debated telling her secret. But she needed to be prepared for that. She needed to play it out right; mostly to ensure that she got away alive, especially if the authority figures were feeling particularly inclined towards cruel and unusual punishment.

"Mm-hmmm." Genesis rolled his aquamarine eyes and began an attempt to bandage his shoulder up again.

"Uh-uh! Wait, wait, wait…" Diana waved her hands exasperatedly. "Let me clean it out first. Then I'll help you."

He muttered something under his breath. "Aw, thanks!" she said brightly. "I'll just go and find some antiseptic, shall I?"

He was still seething quietly when she returned with a large, round white bottle. "I'm surprised you've got such a decent supply of stuff in your bathroom," she stated conversationally. "Although I guess I'd expect you of all people to be prepared for one thing or another." She tipped the bottle up into a wad of cotton swabs and frowned in irritation when a drop of the liquid got into a hangnail on her thumb. "Jeez. Why so grumpy?" She leaned over to peer into her friend's face. "Oh, I see how it is. You know it'll sting. Well, I'm not gonna lie; it will, but it's good for you, so don't complain too much." She squeezed a few drops into the cut experimentally, biting her lip when he hissed. "Sorry, sorry…" She worked her way over the whole laceration, wincing when he showed signs of pain. _It must really be killing him_, she thought unhappily. _He's so strong, and a First and everything, yet it hurt when I barely touched it through at least five layers of bandaging._

"Okay, done. Can I have the bandages?" He handed the roll to her stiffly, and she could tell that the wound still stung a lot. "This is gonna take a lot of that antibiotic stuff," she muttered, squeezing a liberal amount out of the oversized tube she had retrieved from the bowels of a bathroom cupboard. She tried to get it into the wound without touching him, and was mostly successful, so she rewrapped the bandages with direction from Genesis. "There you go. Better?"

He sighed and turned it into a wan smile. "A little. Thank you."

"No problem. Look, take care of that for a couple more days. I have a friend who might know something about how to help you. I'll track her down and see what I can find out." She had been meaning to visit Aerith sometime soon, anyway. The Ancient had to know something about unusual injuries, right? After all, she was a medic, with a direct mental (or spiritual, or however the thing worked) connection to the Planet and the Goddess. Just, you know, for example.

"I'll do that. Do you really think this friend might know something that the people I've asked don't?" he asked gratefully, trying not to ruin it with the degree of skepticism.

She shrugged and gave him a secretive smile. "It's worth a try. Trust me."

"I do."

"Thanks."

"Thank _you_."

"Think nothing of it."

"Of course not. I'll see you later, then?" he smiled good-naturedly.

"You bet. Gotta run!" She got up and hugged him tightly before snatching up her sweatshirt and walking to the door, waving as she closed it behind her. He stood, smiling, and rolled his shoulder gingerly. It did feel a little better… Maybe there was hope after all.

**A/N: So there you have it! Degradation rears its ugly head...ugh. This sub-plot will become more important to the grand scheme of things, you shall see ;) So tell me what you think after this somewhat prolonged wait! Click the review button! AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!**


	38. Gain Some, Lose Some

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Insert clever disclaimer here that says I don't own anything! :D**

**A/N: All right, it seems like I'm always saying I'm sorry for not updating sooner - but I want to legitimately apologize for the length of my last bold section, my A/N and whatever. It was rather irritating, even to me. So while I'm tryingto respond and stuff to people, I'm never writing one that long again. I'm just gonna say: check out my profile! I have a poll up that kind of has to do with this story, so I want all you lovely people to give me an opinion. That's all for now, so I'll start the replies :)**

**Shatter:** I know, right? ! Oh you gotta love Vincent :) Eheh, the wall-smashing moment was a bit hilarious to write, I'll admit it. Yes, they need to cure him before it all goes to hell! :( Don't worry, you'll see :) Thanks! **Shadow of a Broken Angel: **Hahaha yaaaaay for the humor! Happy 2011 to you too, thanks! **Sarah: **Heehee, funny times... I knows it, they gotta get going on that...*shifty eyes* I shan't spoil it for you :) Thank you! **Sayonara: **Hahahahahaha oh so true! She totally would dominate over them all... Yeah, poor Gen needs the help of our fearless heroine! *triumphant music* Yay Vincent and GO Yuffie! (Even better - get together already!) Lol. All in good time. **Ultimate: **Well, seeing as how we've gone over all this already at various hangout times/sleepovers...what else can possibly be said. ^^ love u and enjoy this one! **Angel: **Awww thanks :) Glad to know I made you happy. Of course - Zack's awesome like that ^^ and Cloud and Tifa...well, what else is there to say? LOVE them. Hehehehe Reno...Vincent...Yuffie...good times at Shinra! Except for poor Genesis :/ he needs some saving! Stat! Yeah, I thought it'd make a good dramatic sub-plot. What can I say? Lol. I eagerly await the coming of your oneshots/stories/whatever else! :D Thank you so much! **Shadow Ware: **Why thank you! Yay for continuing to write! :D I feel so special and influential :') Thanks, i knew I was messing with canon but to heck with it, it's more fun this way ^^ Ahhh I never finished Trickster's Queen but Choice was really good even though I hardly remember it now...Song of the Lioness was just so awesome because I've always had this fascination with girls doing the unexpected and all :) (Favorite childhood movie was Mulan, lol!) Thanks! And yes, here comes that pesky degradation...heh. Thank you! Enjoy!

**Chapter 38: Gain Some, Lose Some, and Become Generally Irritated at Some**

"Hey! Let me in already!" She yelled in a voice of a considerably lower register, as she pounded on the door of room 192 several minutes later.

"Coming! Jeez." Max yanked the door open to the startling sight of his shorter roommate. "Dev?"

"No, it's the pizza man," she muttered. "Yeah, I'm back, finally. Got held up last night."

"Yeah, where were you, exactly?" Shane poked his head in from the kitchen area. "Way to disappear."

"I know, I just had to be somewhere fast." She waved a hand as she crossed the threshold and turned toward her and Cloud's room. "I stuck around the city, just moved around a few times. I'll take a couple extra missions this week to compensate, no big deal."

Max shrugged and nodded in agreement, but Shane gave her a scrutinizing look that she was more than a little uncomfortable with receiving while she wasn't completely bandaged up, even if she was now wearing her massively oversized sweatshirt. "Wait, so if you've been gone all weekend, where's your stuff?" he asked perceptively.

She rolled her eyes. "Left it at Tifa's earlier, then I went to go run some errands. I came back and, well, Cloud was there."

Max made an expectant face. "…Yeah? So…?"

She raised her eyebrows at him. "If Cloud was there, then what do you think he and Tifa were doing? _I_ wasn't gonna stick around for the gory details. I mean, I don't know about you, but—"

"Ohh, got it, got it." He looked briefly grossed out, then an evil grin made a stealthy appearance. "Hey Shane."

"Yo." He had submerged himself in the contents of the refrigerator and emerged once again, shaking his hair out of his eyes.

"Whaddaya say to a little…party crashing?"

He gained the same look. "I love crashing parties. Especially the private ones."

Diana snorted and let them do what they would, disappearing into her room and tracking down a half-used roll of bandages in the space under the sink. She performed the methodic, painstakingly learned actions that she had done a hundred times before, and went to change her clothes. Reminding herself that she didn't have anything to worry about (except maybe questions that might stem from the fact that her legs had no hair on them) she threw her old clothes in the hamper. She noted the fact that said hamper was a regular Mount Nibel of sweaty men's clothing, and decided to take that to Tifa's when she went to go get her backpack and explain things to her.

Digging out a white tank top, she pulled that on over her head and zipped up the sleeveless navy uniform top over that. Looking down at herself, she realized how natural it had become to be able to see _all _of her torso when she looked down. That was slightly unusual for most girls her age. The pain that she had had to become accustomed to was all right once she was properly conditioned to it, and it was well worth the freedom of movement. The first few days that her chest had been bound, she had jumped up and down for a minute straight in wonderment. It was perfectly comfortable to do, and that was just plain weird—but it was worth having that ability to move more easily and in more ways.

She pulled on her navy blue cargo pants and snapped on the belt contraption that Cloud had had a terrible time with in the beginning, fastening the adjoining straps over her shoulders. She wasn't going to bother with her shoulder guards for now, but threw on a jacket instead to cover her arms. Passing by the bathroom again as she crossed the room to retrieve her left boot, she had a thought. She threw the boot onto her bed and returned to the bathroom as she yanked on her leather gloves.

Inside, on the floor by the far wall, was a small black scale. She didn't know when the last time she had weighed herself was, and what if she had to fill out her height and weight on something sometime soon? You never knew. So she pulled out the scale, narrowly avoiding stubbing her sock-covered toe on the baseboard, and stepped onto it. She watched the little red needle swing up clockwise and looked at where it pointed on the little black lines. Then she spotted the numbers next to the thicker lines and her eyebrows shot up.

She had always been thin as a child, although her bone mass seemed to be considerably denser than average, seeing as how she had weighed about fifteen pounds more than she looked like as a teenager. This was ridiculous, though.

She stepped off the scale, made sure it was calibrated to zero, and got back on. The needle still pointed to the line just above the thick one in between 150 and 160. A hundred and fifty-six pounds? Really? She knew that muscle weighed more than fat, and she had gained a considerable amount of that over the past few months, but not that much.

"Hey, Max!" she yelled in the direction of the common area. "You still here?"

"Yeah!"

"We weren't _actually _gonna do anything!" Shane scoffed in addition.

"Yeah, so you say." She emerged from her room and moved towards one of the cupboards by the sink. "I was wondering. Do mako infusions make you gain bone or muscle density or something?"

Max muttered something about 'geniacs' and Shane cocked his head to the side. "Er, why d'you say that?"

"I think I, uh, gained some weight." She hadn't realized quite how odd that sounded, especially coming from a supposed man. Sure enough, as she turned to them, her friends were giving her equally strange looks that were asking 'and you notice this _why_?'

"No, it's just, there's a scale in our bathroom and I was bored. I mean, what if someone needs my age, height, and weight, or something? I don't know. You never know. But seriously. Do I _look _almost one-sixty to you?" She spread her arms and glanced down at her comparatively scrawny body pointedly. Granted, she was dressed, but her feet were devoid of the thick uniform boots, and she hadn't eaten anything in the past fifteen hours, either.

"One-sixty?" Max wrinkled his nose. "You sure you can read?"

She rolled her eyes. "_You _go check!"

So he marched off, and returned twenty seconds later. "About one-eighty-five. …Yeah, that's definitely off." Diana raised her eyebrows in victory as she riffled through the boxes in the cupboard and finally located the granola bars, pulling out three. Max was just two inches taller than her, and was of a fairly average build. If her idea of an average weight for a male his size and age was correct, he was definitely heavier than normal.

Shane rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe it is the mako…I mean, that would make sense, right? If it makes us stronger, then…"

"A dramatic increase in muscle density would be logical since the muscle needs to take and exert a lot more force, and the bones as well, as an allocation for increased stress and potential forceful contact…" She tapped a finger against her bottom lip in consideration. "…What. Makes sense to me," she said defensively at her friends' now exasperated looks. "Whatever." She forcefully chomped off half the granola bar in her hand. Finishing it off in another bite, she unwrapped the second one. _And I haven't even eaten yet today. Jeez. Mako sure does do weird things. At least it's the same for them as it is for me, them actually being male and all._

"What're you guys doing today?" she inquired conversationally.

Max snorted. "Taking a break. We were in the slums on extermination duty all of yesterday and the day before."

"Ah." She nodded as she wolfed down the third bar quickly. Jeez, if she wanted to, she could probably pull off being a man for any given duration of time. As if the habits and mannerisms she had picked up from her twin over the years weren't enough, now she was living with three men and had had to learn hands-on how to act like them and make it look natural. _That's really the key to life_, she mused as she deposited the wrappers in the trash. _Just look like you know exactly what you're doing, and no one's going to question you. _She smirked slightly. "Well, I'm gonna go see what I can do about getting my stuff back. My favorite knife's in that bag," she remembered with a slight frown. "Catch you guys later."

They both made noises of affirmation as she exited the dorm. Maybe Cloud had left Tifa's, maybe not; either way, she wanted to go for a walk.

She should have learned by now that this was in general not something that would have an entirely positive and incident-free outcome, but even with this in mind, she did it anyway. The thing was, for once, it was a good idea after all.

She heard the rumble of the engine of what sounded like a bus start and gradually fade off, and cocked her head to the side. _Exiting? Why would a bus… Oh._ In one of the large courtyards from which one could easily gain access to the cadet dorm buildings, an equally large number of people seemed to be gathered. _There's a new round of cadets that's come in? …Awesome!_ Out of curiosity, she decided to make a pass by the area, just to take a look.

Her memories of her first day at Shinra were funny ones. First off, there was befriending Cloud on the bus, then making quite the impression by gaining the reputation of being the feisty midget. Now that had been fun. Except that she had had to be saved…by Zack. Well, maybe that part wasn't so bad. She grinned resignedly._ I would've been toast. But, he was there, so no worries._

Suddenly, a thought dawned on her. She also remembered seeing SOLDIER members in uniform, smirking as she and her friends made their way around the unfamiliar campus. The inherent form of entertainment was to pick on the newbies, as she had experienced several times before people figured out not to mess with the shrimp.

Of course, she wasn't going to be malevolent about it. Even if it was somewhat of a tradition—on her part, it would all just be in good fun.

Taking advantage of the angle of the sun (which didn't provide any honestly direct light anyway, even up here on the plate, due to the pollution) she leaned against the open doorway from the hall she had just crossed into the courtyard, crossing her arms. Ever the silent watcher, she just observed. She took in the young men with amusement, seeing them look around in wonder, most likely thrilled at the thought that these walls were the foundation of Shinra, the world's most powerful corporation, and that they were going to help fight for it. There were dreamers; there were action-takers; there were fighters; there were peacekeepers—all with the united goal of becoming achievers.

Here was the part where everyone stood around cluelessly, waiting for someone to come and tell them what to do. She chuckled. _Bet Sephiroth's just thrilled—he's probably stuck with this job again. Or maybe Angeal. I doubt Genesis has left his rooms yet._ She frowned slightly at the thought of her friend. _I'd better talk to Aerith, ASAP. Who knows how fast that wound could spread to the rest of his body, or mutate, or something… Heck, I don't know. That's not a natural wound, though, and he needs help._ She suddenly noticed a few slightly raised voices, and her thought bubble popped as she refocused on the scene outside.

It was all too obvious what the milling around of men into a loose circle usually meant. "Oh, you're kidding, right?" she muttered exasperatedly. She nearly had a heart attack when she got a response, and then almost fell over when she realized it was coming from _inside her own head_.

**No, I'm sorry—they're not kidding. They rather like their manly displays, don't they?**

The voice was on the borderline of amusement. Diana made a face. _Sweet Shiva. You do know you just about made me go into cardiac arrest, right?_

**Apologies. I know you certainly don't need any more near-death experiences…**

_I'm a SOLDIER. Kinda comes as an occupational hazard._

**You know what I really meant, child.**

_Er, no, actually… Wait. Oh, that. Hey, about that—_ she began.

**We can have this discussion later. Right now, I think you may want to see this…**

The voice of Gaia faded out of existence, and in seconds, the Goddess' presence was gone. Diana sighed exasperatedly, vowing to sit in a quiet corner where she could have a nice, private mental discussion with the deity later. She turned her attention back to the soon-to-be cadets.

They were definitely circling something. Oh, a space in the middle. Fabulous. All that that meant was a fight— She cut off the thought abruptly. _Hey. Wait. That's…someone really is fighting! What the hell do they think they're doing?_ Throwing their testosterone around was one thing, but if someone was going to be walking away with a broken limb, that wasn't going to fly.

She nonchalantly strolled across the empty space, looking like she knew exactly what she was doing, and she silently thanked Gaia for her ability to almost disappear when necessary.

She narrowed her gray eyes to focus better on the details. Hmm. Definitely just two in the center. She slipped into the crowd with practiced ease, keeping her head angled down while moving to see the action better.

_Okay, I know I have a temper, but at least I have my motives, right? I swear, if these guys got into an argument over who has a bigger—_ She shuddered and rolled her eyes. She knew she was being judgmental. But hey, she'd gotten way too many jokes involving women and kitchens before that were unjustified and uncalled for, and had resulted in some severe…er…conflicts, to put it mildly. If stereotypes were really based on twisted facts, then there was a good chance that this was something trivial. Nevertheless, it was well within her duty to call them on it. And, besides—she grinned evilly—she was their superior.

A couple men were laughing. A few looked a bit uncomfortable. Most just looked mildly interested; only spectators, not here to intervene. She pushed through a few more people, cursing the fact that while she was a tree among women, she was a midget among men. _Is there no happy medium? !_

She paused and looked over someone's shoulder, and what she could see made her eyebrows shoot up. The men were indeed circling each other, one baring his teeth aggressively, and the other one shouting loud insults.

Well, she wasn't going to be a bystander, because doing nothing was just as bad as advocating the events.

She shifted her way subtly to the near front of the throng, hoping that maybe they were just trying to scare each other, but when their postures changed to attack mode in a way that she had learned to recognize, that possibility disappeared. _Time to move, then_, she thought resignedly. _That's not cool_.

"What is this, the playground?" she said loudly, stepping into a slight gap in the front line. Heads turned. A few of the men around her moved back a bit, almost as if they were anticipating her needing space. Smart guys. "I mean, really. I'd expect more from potential SOLDIER members."

The aggressive, shorter one whirled on her almost immediately. She stared back with an air of sarcasm.

"What do you know?" he said, of an equal volume.

"I'm saying, break it up. Do you have no sense of honor?" _Angeal would be proud._

"He was the one who called me a prick—"

"You punched me, asshole—!"

She laughed dryly. "Ouch. Am I sensing a rivalry? Didn't anyone ever teach you that public displays of aggression are likely to get you kicked out?"

"Look, who do you think you are?" the first one snapped. He was on the verge of adding something else, but Diana had spotted one of his fists beginning to curl and his arms tensing to cock back. The second man flinched reflexively and was about to go on the defensive when Diana's next statement made him realize that he was off the hook for now.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She cut him off and threw it at him like a challenge.

"Oh, yeah?" he asked loudly. "Well, you're not me, so who are you to be giving orders?" he challenged her back.

"If you want to know, the name's Devon Loveless." She paused slightly, the corner of her mouth threatening to pull up triumphantly. "SOLDIER, Third Class."

There was a beat of silence, presumably during which some reconsidering was done. Diana flicked a glance at the second man, who was now openly staring at her. She refocused on the other man. "Now, let's be honest, Thirds don't have huge amounts of authority. Fact of life," she stated conversationally. "But that still does make me your superior. So… I might take my recommendations into consideration. If I were in fact you. So I say break it up."

She could have laughed out loud at the mutterings that were going around. Oh, she knew full well that she looked fairly unassuming as a man. _There's a reason for that_, she snickered to herself. _Oh, Gaia, their faces if they knew the truth!_

"I don't want to see or hear about any more of this," she called out. The two men were slowly backing into their places among their immediate friends in the circle. "Today, you are all here with the hopes of becoming SOLDIERs. I'm not going to lie—it's not an easy road." She almost laughed. "Not by a long shot. You may not like a lot of what you see. But if it's what you really want, you _will _make it. You have to work for it; and then you have to make it worth it. These men," she gestured around, turning slowly, "these men are your comrades in arms. If you can't trust them, you can't trust anyone. I'm not saying we all have to be best friends. I'm not going to insult your intelligence with that. But among comrades, you don't need that to trust each other. It's completely different." She smacked one hand into her other palm for emphasis. "By the end of your cadet training, each and every one of you should be able to trust each and every other man here with his life. Because if that trust doesn't exist, there is no core to our military. You have to be careful who you do trust in life—it isn't something to be given lightly. But above all, trust your comrades. Remember that." She pointed a finger around at the men, who had gathered in a kind of circle around her now. Dropping the hand, she looked around, meeting every pair of eyes that she came to with her glowing emerald ones. She smiled lopsidedly. "Now, one of the commanders should be along soon. If you're lucky, it might be the General. I'd make a good impression if I were you." She raised her eyebrows expectantly as the men began murmuring again, excitedly this time. Turning, the men parted for her like water, and she strode off, back the way she had come. Before she got to the doorway, however, she stopped dead, because Zack was coming toward her.

"Hey Shorty!" he yelled, grinning madly and clearly aiming to embarrass her.

"Good to see you too, Porcupine," she called back, walking to meet him. She was sure that every single eye in that crowd was on them now, but she wasn't going to turn around to check. "Minor fight a few minutes ago," she said quietly as he approached. "I broke it up, gave them a speech worthy of Angeal," she snorted.

"Really?" He exhaled loudly. "Why am I not surprised. Hang on, you didn't do the honor spiel, did you?"

She waved a hand. "Nah, that'd be stealing from the original. I did the trust-your-comrades spiel."

"And how true that is," he said seriously. "Wanna stick around? I have to get them all off to where they need to be and Sephiroth ditched on me so I need a second."

"But I'm only a Third!" she protested.

"Okay, I'm not sure if that was intended to be a bad pun or not," he wrinkled his nose adorably, "but either way, it doesn't matter. I get the feeling they respect you."

She sighed, partially in an effort to expel her hormonal tendencies. (_Stop looking at him like that! Stop it! Oh, so it's no big deal that I woke up _in his bed _this morning, I'm just hanging out here, you know, like everything's totally normal_…) "Fine, fine. I'll stick around."

"Cool. Hey, cadets!" he yelled, but the raise in volume wasn't really necessary, because Diana saw as she turned to stand beside Zack that the men were hanging on their every word. At least, they were trying to; they couldn't hear a thing, of course, but still. Most of them knew who Zack Fair, First Class was, and Devon Loveless of the Third Class seemed to be in cahoots with him, making them easily the most interesting people for several hundred feet.

Diana listened to Zack with half an ear and concentrated the rest of her efforts on scanning the crowd of men. She didn't recognize anyone, of course—now that would be a regular disaster—but then again, Kalm was small, with few people. With a little less wisdom, she would have said that she and her friends hadn't looked nearly so unprepared and bewildered as this lot, but of course that wasn't true at all. She must have looked quite the pathetic sight herself, she thought wryly, suppressing a chuckle. Looking back on it, she could clearly remember Cloud's perpetually dazed, wide-eyed expression. _Our little chocobo's grown up_, she allotted with a twinge of nostalgia. _We all have_. She risked a sidelong glance at Zack, who was in the midst of enforcing those privileges not allowed to cadets that they should be particularly observant of. _More than we realize ourselves, and more than we realize of each other, too. Maybe more than we can ever recognize._

She shook herself out of the short reverie when Zack clapped his hands sharply and yelled something about signing the roster and getting the keys from him. He produced a small box that jangled a lot, and Diana presumed those were the keys, not to mention the spares. He peered into it as the cadets milled around, looking for roommates.

"Er. I think I've…disorganized them a bit," he muttered, looking at the jumbled mess. "Mind sorting these out?"

Diana rolled her eyes good-naturedly and grunted an affirmative. "Thank Gaia someone had the sense to label these, at least…" She peered over at the box. As she took a step toward him and extended her hand, she froze suddenly, having experienced a subtle but all too familiar sensation from farther south. "Uh-oh," she muttered, staring straight ahead, trying to figure out if that had indeed been what her instincts had told her it was.

Zack popped into her line of vision and she drew back slightly, blinking. "You okay?"

"Er, yeah. Look, I've just remembered—I have to go. Now." She stared at him in a bit of an odd way.

"Uh. Okay?" Zack was taken aback by his friend's sudden urgency. "See you later, then. We should sign up for a couple missions together soon!" he called after her, as she had already begun to jog away.

"Great! Later!" she yelled over her shoulder, swearing to herself. Why, _why _hadn't she remembered that today was the nineteenth? Granted, she had had other things on her mind, but she scolded herself for forgetting about this all the same. And running seemed to be making it worse, although if she walked, it would take way too long. She ran all the way back to the dorm, finding it locked and fumbling slightly with her key, and discovered it to be empty. Well, there was one good thing, at least.

She tore into the bathroom and hunted down her well-concealed bag of supplies. This is beyond irritating, she fumed repeatedly to herself.

**At some point, you're going to have to recognize that you are in fact a woman.**

Diana snorted at the reappearance of the goddess' presence. _I'd noticed, thanks. Doesn't mean I have to like it._

**So you would really rather be a man?**

Now there was something to think about. Both sides had their pros and cons, of course. _No. No, I suppose not. I mean, think of all I'd miss._

**But think of all you would gain.**

Diana got the distinct impression that she was being tested. _But from where I am now, everything about my life? I'm perfectly happy the way I am._

**Exactly.**

_…Wait, what? Was I just _played_?_

**I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about.**

_Sure, sure. Jeez, this is weird. I'm in the bathroom, for Ga—er, your sake._

**Well then, get out of the bathroom, why don't you?**

_You're just afraid to sass me in person,_ she grumbled. _That wasn't a provocation_, she thought hurriedly.

**I thought not.**

Diana washed her hands and walked back out into her and Cloud's room on autopilot. _So, I've got a few questions._

**No doubt you do. I wish I could answer them.**

_First off—wait, what? What do you mean? You can't tell me you don't know—?_

**Of course I know. That does not, however, make it my place to meddle in the affairs and opinions of mortals.**

"I—what?" she spluttered out loud. "This isn't—this is self-preservation! I want to know why people are _out to kill me_!"

**All I can say is to keep constant vigilance. You will need to keep you friends very close. I do not want your life in such near jeopardy again.** Her tone was severe, but considerate all the same.

_What, like it's my fault a psychopath came out of nowhere while I was visiting my family?_ she argued heatedly, in her head this time.

**No, **the Goddess continued patiently, **even I almost didn't see that coming. I am just saying that since that man and monster were killed, their…benefactor…will only send stronger ones after you.**

"_Stronger_? ! That guy nearly killed me! How am I supposed to handle anything stronger than _that_—?"

**Is Diana Loveless accepting that a challenge is too great for her?**

_I—no—no, not that, I mean, I was just unprepared, right? If I'm always ready, then—_

**Then perhaps you will be able to delay an attacker until help can come for you? **She was suddenly alarmingly serious.

_Well, maybe—I don't know! With preparation I can handle whatever he'll throw at me, right—?_

**And what happens when you cannot? **She cut in sharply. **You cannot do everything by yourself. You need to accept help once in a while, whether willingly or not. I know how much pride you have, finally being able to take on nearly anything, but this is not by any means a natural case. Someone out there, someone with a dangerous amount of knowledge and resources, wants you dead. **_**You**_**, specifically. And he will do anything he can to accomplish that. Do you realize how imperative it is that you survive, and beyond that, find out who he is? Surrender just a bit of that pride for once, and make a healthy decision. Novel, I know. Oh, and on that topic—go and see your friend the Cetra as well. It will be a good decision.**

Needless to say, Diana didn't exactly have anything to say to that.

**I will talk to you again soon, then. Take your sword when you go the slums. Which, by the way, you haven't named yet… **She trailed off and faded completely, leaving Diana standing in the middle of her room, staring at her sword in the corner and feeling more frustratedly confused than ever.

**A/N: And so she's got no answers. :/ Well, those deities just can't go against the rules, I guess! So this was more of a transition chapter, but it's got those little blurbs of significance. Ya know. But on the topic of the parting line - I honestly have gone through a ton of ideas for naming her sword. Just because I feel like it should have a name :) Does anyone have any ideas? At all? That aren't overly cheesy, because I've thought of plenty of those *grin* Thanks, hope you enjoyed the slight interlude, and until next time! :D **


	39. Exhibition By Interpretation

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I totally forgot to mention this-in a couple days it'll be the nine-month anniversary of this story. Whoa. *looks around* Hey, where'd my rights go? Oh, they were forged? No, I had no idea, really...**

**A/N: OH MAH GOSH 200 REVIEWS! *sniffle* I love you guys... Thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story, and everyone who's reading it! (Is anyone else's traffic thingy freaking out and showing zero since Friday...?) More goes on this chapter, to be blunt. Development of themes/thematic elements/characters/plot suspense/all of the above, so enjoy all that! Oh yeah, and... Can I just say that I have no school tomorrow? xD Hooray for snow! (Ultimate and I are gonna have an awesome time doing stupid stuff.) And I can stay up as late as I want to update! Well, okay, let's face it, I'd do it anyway. But still. So I don't have any specific music recommendations, but I have a couple songs that basically summarize FFVII and its events. For one thing: Orchard of Mines by Globus is like the themes and tone of Crisis Core all in one gorgeous nutshell. There are some good YouTube videos, too. And for the main FFVII events and AC, I'd say Better Days by The Goo Goo Dolls is all but perfection. Ditto on the YouTubing (whaddaya mean that isn't a word?). It's kind of a sad song, just for the tone for me, but I think it works perfectly. Anyways :) And again, hoorays for snow! :D _This _is why I love winter.**

**Sarah: **Thank you! Oh, I've got a lot in mind for that particular aspect, believe me. It's actually more important than you might realize for a while, even later on O_o haha thanks! **Sayonara: **Yes, gotta love the cadet thing. And definitely, Cloud really does improve a lot. I hate how he doesn't really get his chance in CC :( But I shall fully appreciate his talents here :) Hm, interesting thoughts...I don't know, I'm still considering and so is Diana! :P Thanks though! Hahaha welllll it was more like she was being tested as in made to apppreciate what she had. Minerva was trying to get Diana to walk right into saying what was true, which she did. She's obviously happy as a girl, even though she has to pose as a male, no matter how much she might complain sometimes. Hahahahaha oh poor Zack, don't worry, there will be _plenty_ in the shock department eventually. Jeez, I'm even killing myself with the suspense xD Thanks! **Shadow of a Broken Angel: **Congrats, 200th reviewer! :D YAY! Why yes they most certainly did. ^^ Thanks for reviewing and enjoy! **Shatter: **Thanks. Ooh, now there's a nice theory. A _very _nice theory, in fact. Haha, yes, they would all nobly rise to her defense :) Well anyone would for anyone they were friends with really, but especially Zack. Never be afraid to break out the can opener and unleash that can of whupass! xD Why thanks.

**Chapter 39: Exhibition By Interpretation**

"Fine. Fine! Don't give me any decent information. I bet you're sitting up there laughing hysterically at me! 'Not my place to meddle', honestly!" Diana fumed as she stalked out the elevator doors (she had mercifully been alone on the ride down, the mercy in question applying more to anyone else who might have been in the elevator) and into the Shinra lobby. She emerged onto the street and crossed between the lines of stopped traffic to get to the train station just a hundred yards away. The train would take her down the tracks that wound around the main support of the city's plate, descending to the slums.

When she got back, she would really have to get on signing into the mission log to make up for her days of unexcused absence. Maybe some nice, old-fashioned, gut-splattering monster exterminations. Apparently a lot of reports had been coming in from Sector Three lately, if what she had overheard in the hall from a few Seconds had been right. _Guess there are more than bats there_, she thought, remembering the occasion on which she and Cloud had paid a visit to an abandoned warehouse. _Fine. Lemme at 'em_.

She knew full well that she was PMSing slightly. But, there was no one around to suffer the consequences, so she blew off some steam by spontaneously deciding to take the long way around a block of buildings.

At any rate, the new harness she had for her sword was doing a good job of keeping her happy, even when she broke into a light jog. She had complained once or twice the previous week about having her sword hang at her side, as it was too long to sit comfortably there for her liking. Since she had been back on speaking terms with Zack, he had finally suggested a shop in the city where she could get a harness like his, so she took him up on the offer. She rather liked her acquisition, too, just having the chance to try it out now. It was made of tough, dark brown leather with silver buckles that weren't too ostentatious for her taste, and wrapped around her waist and again over her stomach to loop over her chest and shoulders and form an X on her back. In the center of the cross, a massively powerful magnet was set, gauged expressly to the weight and composition of her sword. Sure, it had taken a considerable chunk out of her paycheck to get the custom specifications made. But she was going to own this apparatus for years (at least, with any luck) and it really was of incredible quality.

Making a mental note to thank Zack the next time she saw him, she came to a spot where the elevation of the back street abruptly changed, and she had to go up a short flight of stairs. Farther down the road, it went down again, and she would have to turn left. She absently wondered how full the train would be, and whether she would have to endure a ride squashed in next to a group of out-of-place giggling teenage girls. It wouldn't be the first occasion. She rolled her eyes mentally._ I wonder how many people can actually fit on one of the trains. For security and safety purposes and everything. Imagine if the entire plate had to be evacuated. Or, really, all of Midgar_. She winced. That would, to put it mildly, suck beyond belief. No way would even half the city make it out alive. And that was an extremely creepy thought. She knew the trains ran constantly and never broke down, but still—to vacate an entire city? She watched her feet, careful not to miss a step. It would be hard enough to get the slums emptied—but then again, there were eight entrances to the city, and the plains around Midgar stretched as far as the eye could see. The problem would be getting everyone from the plate down to ground level, and then getting everyone out. _Then again, what could possibly happen? Shinra would have plenty of warning if there was ever, I don't know, a giant meteor about to crash into the planet straight on top of Midgar. And really, what are the odds of that?_ She snorted at the thought and noticed at the same time that the laces on her right boot were loose. _Ah, shoot…_

She stopped at the top of the flight of stairs leading back down to ground level, noticing absently that a few people were coming down the road farther behind her, slower than she was moving. A light but solid _clang _made her straighten up fast, and she realized that her sword had made a dent in the concrete._ Silly me_. She laughed quietly to herself, sending an eerie echo around her. The metal was so hard that it had actually dented the concrete…! She reached over her shoulder with her right hand and gripped the handle of her sword firmly to pull it off her back. The magnet released her weapon and the weight faded from her harness, and she smiled as she propped the sword carefully against the closest wall. She had had to ditch her jacket for her shoulder guards back in the dorm, in case one of her superiors was around and started going off on her about uniform regulations, and she rolled her shoulders, only slightly irritated at the extra bulkiness.

Bending down again, she got her boot retied, but just as she was about to stand up again, the city dirt and dust must have gotten into her nose or something, because she gave an explosive dry sneeze that effectively slaughtered her balance. She teetered for half a second at the top of the stairs, but gravity finally won over and she toppled head over heels down the concrete steps.

"Agh! Ow! Shit! Screw you! Ahh! …Uhnnn…" She groaned, spread-eagled on the ground, and grabbed onto the railing to drag herself upright.

Meanwhile, there were two SOLDIERs she didn't recognize coming down the steps. "Huh?" one muttered, catching sight of the sword leaning unassumingly against the wall of the nearest building.

"What's this doing he—" The second one stopped when he caught sight of Diana. She heaved herself to her feet and grabbed her head, muttering darkly to herself about predestination and meddling.

Suddenly, she noticed the two men staring at her. "Oh. Sorry. That's mine." She trotted back up the stairs to snatch up her sword, securing it on her back again. "Thanks." To their credit, they only gawked at the unknown, undersized Third for another few seconds after 'he' disappeared down the left fork of the street and trotted up to the train platform.

Her ride was uneventful except for the usual apprehensive stares, and fifteen minutes later, Diana was walking down the streets of the Sector Five slums. She knew the way to the church pretty well by now. Abruptly, she realized that her thoughts were drifting, and she had to remind herself to walk like a man. She was used to the 'Shinra glare' by now, but today, the looks she was receiving were fewer and farther between. Maybe it was because she had travelled this way plenty of times before that the people didn't mind the short SOLDIER with the strangely colored eyes as much anymore. At least, most of the people.

She heard the laughter of children coming from a side street, and she smiled slightly. It was good to know that there was at least some happiness in this place. The stores and homes and roads of the plate above were like a glorified version of what she saw down here. The people below had no way out, no chance for that. She knew that things were being done to better the lives of the city people all the time, as was the job of the government, but the slums didn't have a huge amount of hope. It was sad to watch.

One of the children yelped a laugh in surprise, and a red rubber ball bounced and rolled its way merrily into Diana's path. She blinked before realizing that it belonged, of course, to the children. It took a second because their voices had abruptly stopped, like someone had pressed the mute button. She avoided turning to look at them, in case she frightened them, but she knew they were still standing there, frozen in their tracks. Picking up the ball with one gloved hand before it could roll into the gutter, she turned slowly, like she was approaching a skittish animal.

The kids were several yards away from her, but she crouched down to their level anyway. "Is this yours?" she asked softly. After a moment of hesitation, one of the boys nodded slowly. "Here you go." She smiled and held the ball out to him. He approached slowly, reminding her again of a shy animal, but apparently decided that the strange SOLDIER was all right, because he took the ball carefully in both hands and smiled shyly in gratitude.

A sharp female voice cut the air. "Kids! What have I said about talking to strangers?" Diana winced slightly. _She doesn't even mind that I'm right here_, she thought. She turned her head without standing up and tried to look as non-threatening as possible. _Gaia, I don't want to make the civilians mad… Maybe if I'm really nice to her…_

"It's okay, Mom!" the boy suddenly piped up. Diana's eyebrows shot up. "He just got our ball for us!" the child continued.

The woman was standing in a nearby doorway. She was in her thirties, but the lines around her eyes made her seem older, giving her an impression of constant stress. She looked Diana up and down and narrowed her eyes at the sword on the SOLDIER's back that gave her away.

Diana stood up slowly as the mother beckoned the three children to her and they ran into the small, gray ramshackle imitation of a house. She tried to be polite and resented the fact that she was immediately considered threatening because of her status. "My apologies. He was telling the truth, though—"

"I don't doubt him," she cut her off bitingly.

_Ouch. Er…_ "Of course not, ma'am," she continued smoothly. "I just don't want to cause trouble."

"Hmph." The woman was sizing her up again, now that she was standing. Her eyes lingered on Diana's face and Diana was suddenly extremely conscious of her unpredictable eyes. _The eyes of monsters_, people called the mako eyes…

"You're with Shinra?" the woman asked suspiciously.

Diana almost frowned. Shouldn't that be obvious? "Yes ma'am. SOLDIER."

"Hm. You don't look old enough to be a SOLDIER." The woman's eyebrows drew together severely. The boy looked strong, sure enough, but still wiry and too adolescent to be of military age. Never mind hauling that thing around on his back.

"I know, ma'am, but I'm twenty, I promise." Somehow, Diana felt that her word didn't go for much here.

"Well then, what's your business in Sector Five?" the woman inquired shrewdly. "There are never any monsters in these parts, so why are you here?" Her voice was becoming increasingly wavering.

Diana didn't even want to imagine what the woman might have in mind. "Actually, I'm not here on business. Regulation says I have to keep the uniform on—bothersome as that may be—" she said more quietly, and didn't notice the blink accompanied by a shift in the woman's expression— "but I'm here on a personal visit."

"Mm-hm?" the woman said with a certain degree of skepticism. "Might I ask who?"

_Now the question is, is that curiosity or a lack of credibility on my part?_ Diana thought dryly. She hesitated slightly before deciding to tell the harmless truth. "Aerith Gainsborough. She spends a lot of her time at the church up there." She gestured up the street, where she could just see the roof of the church.

The woman's surprise was now evident. "You're a friend of Aerith's?"

"Yes," Diana said, equally surprised. But of course Aerith was acquainted with the people of the area.

"You wouldn't happen to know a SOLDIER, tall, black spiky hair…?"

"Zack?" Diana blurted without thinking. "Yeah, he's—he's a good friend." _Nice save_.

"Oh," the woman said blandly, appearing to reconsider. "Well. I suppose you'll pass, then."

"Er… Thank you, ma'am? Have a nice day…" Diana trailed off as the woman smiled wanly and stepped back into the house, closing the door behind her.

_Well, that was strange. Heh. Zack's name _would _come up._ She smiled affectionately to herself.

As she approached the huge stone church, Aerith appeared at the door. Evidently she had been…forewarned, shall we say…of her friend's arrival. "Finally," she sighed lightly. "What is it you need help with? Does this have anything to do with your weekend?" she wagged a finger menacingly.

Diana exhaled calmingly and tried to wrap her head around the fact that Aerith just knew way too much. It didn't work very well. Aerith was Aerith, and that was all there was to it. "Uh—um. What part of the weekend would that be—?"

"The part where you almost _died_!" Aerith was having a fit, at least, as much of a fit as she could ever manage.

"Oh. Er, that. You saw the whole thing?" Diana cringed slightly.

"Yes, I saw the whole thing!" she fumed. "I know everything you know. Just—come inside, will you?"

"Sure, sure," Diana complied hastily, leaving the heavy wooden door a crack open. "So you know there's basically an assassin force after me, right?"

"Well, I don't know about calling it that, but that seems to be the general idea, I guess." Aerith was bustling around with a full watering can, leaving small splashes on the floorboards from place to place. "I saw you two discussing the whole thing with your cousin afterwards, too—he looked nice—and by the way, you and Zack are really cute—and I think it's just really dangerous for you being two people and all," she lowered her voice slightly, "and to have whoever this is know that, that's really bad, and—" She stopped to draw breath from the closest thing to a panicked rant that Diana had ever heard come out of the other girl's mouth, and Diana jumped in.

"Whooooa. I know, I've thought about it. I've also thought about—about telling the truth," she stated awkwardly.

Aerith blinked. "How?" she gasped. "You can't expect Shinra to just—"

Diana held up her hands. "I know, it'll be hard. But I have a few things that I want to do when that happens. I am doing this on _my _terms." She paused. "For one thing, I want to be the one to let the chocobo out of the bag. I owe everybody that much. And before I say anything, I want to have made Second Class. Just so I have some sense of self-fulfillment or whatever before…before whatever will happen," she said firmly. "If that hasn't happened by midwinter, then I'll go ahead with it anyway. When I get the secret out, what I want to happen is to tell Zack first." She ducked her head, suddenly feeling very much ashamed of herself. "I owe that much to him," she whispered. "If he hates me right away, so be it." She ground her back teeth together and plowed onwards. "If he doesn't and he'll help me, then that's just a bonus point. Once he knows, I want to go straight to Genesis and Angeal."

"Not the General?" Aerith asked meekly for clarification.

She shook her head. "Gen and Angeal know me better, and besides, I don't want to be putting something like that on Sephiroth's shoulders. Then I'll go from there. But I want you to promise me something." She looked the other girl straight in the eye. Emerald met jade.

"Okay," Aerith agreed quietly. She knew Diana was being extremely serious, but she didn't know what the other girl might want a promise of.

"When my secret gets out…" she paused, clearly wanting to imprint this upon her friend.

"Yes," Aerith said steadily.

"I want you to lie."

"…What—?"

"You have no idea that I'm really a girl." Diana picked up speed, gritting out the sentences bluntly. "You treated me in the hospital, but never found out the truth. Your Cetra abilities are powerful but selective—and I know they are—and you didn't know. I'm not having you jeopardized," she said, a bit fiercely, "and I'm telling this to Tifa and Cloud, too. Can you promise me that?"

Aerith knew there was no getting around this. Diana would have her way, as much as Aerith would resent it, and she didn't consider it her place to deny the wishes of her friend that came from protectiveness. "All right. I promise."

"Good, then," Diana said quietly. It was for everyone's sake. "I actually have something else to ask you—something involving your medical skills." She quirked a half smile at the other girl.

"Sure, anything." Aerith shifted in her seat, focusing intently in anticipation and trying to toss off the mild shock of the previous topic.

"I wanted to ask if you knew anything about wounds that won't heal. I'm not talking about regular infections," she said hurriedly. "Like, for someone with mako infusions. And it's not me." Aerith had begun looking at her with that scrutinizing, subtly analytical "doctor look" even as they sat there on the church pew. "It's a…SOLDIER friend." She would leave it at that.

The girl tapped her chin. "I don't think I've dealt with a SOLDIER wound that won't clear up in a few days. How long has this person had it?"

"A week and a half," Diana replied promptly. "And the thing is," she rushed on, "I went to touch it and he flinched when I barely went near it, and through half a dozen layers of bandages he'd put on it! Even a giant infected cut like that shouldn't be that painful, especially for a SOLDIER."

"You're absolutely right," Aerith murmured. "That's so strange. How has he been caring for it?"

Diana snorted. "He's being an idiot and training on it." She held up her hands as Aerith took an irritated breath, presumably to start a rant. "I know, I know, I yelled at him for that, too. He's got it wrapped up. I put alcohol on it and some antibiotic ointment, and I changed the bandages."

"Hmph." Aerith leaned back and folded her arms. "Well, at least you had the sense to do that for him."

_What is that?_ She realized in a second that the weird pattern of motion that she was seeing was the movement of water. And lo and behold, at the edge of the patch of flowers, where the floorboards were torn up, was a tiny, bubbling spring. "Hey…" She got up almost subconsciously and walked over to the flowers.

She turned back to Aerith, who wasn't paying attention to her, her thoughts still buried deep in the intriguing case that her friend had presented. "Hey, this wasn't here before, was it?" she asked.

"Hm?" Aerith's head came up and she leaned over to see where Diana was pointing. "Oh, that! No, I suppose you haven't seen that. I was thinking how difficult it is to get any good water down here, you know, in the slums. The air and water all over the city isn't anything to brag about, of course, but it's even worse down here." She wrinkled her nose delicately, then brightened. "But the next day, I found this here! I like to think it was Gaia's way of keeping nature alive in this city." She smiled softly as Diana crouched down next to the spring, peering under the floorboards to try to find the origin.

_It comes straight up out of the ground. What's up with that? _Diana dug her fingers under the closest board and pulled up hard, making it crack about a foot back. Thankful that it hadn't splintered, she ripped it off with little effort and tossed it to the side. She blinked as the water burbled happily and began to pool in the newly cleared area. _Whoa_. She stared down at her own reflection. _It's so…clear. That's crazy… Then again, there's divine intervention for you._

"Is it okay to drink it, you think?" she wondered out loud.

Aerith shrugged. "The flowers like it well enough, and it's so clear that I suppose it's all right." She stood and went to pick up her watering can again.

_There's a difference between flowers and people_, a part of her thought with a mental eye roll. _But, hey, odds are it won't kill me_. She shrugged and cupped her hands, dipping them into the shallow pool and slurping the water down. "Hmm." It didn't taste all that different at first, but then there was a conspicuous lack of that subtle metallic taste that city water got. It was usually even more pronounced because of her enhanced senses, but this tasted cleaner than anything she could even remember from home. "Huh. A little gift from the Goddess after all, I guess," she chuckled.

"I suppose so," Aerith smiled, bending down to fill her watering can. "Well, I'll look into it and I'll see what I can do for your friend. Don't you have a mission log to make up for lost time on?" she asked perceptively.

"Ah. Right. Sector Three, here I come," she muttered. "See you around, Aerith. And thanks a lot."

"Thank me once I figure something out." Aerith tittered, but smiled. "See you."

**A/N: Well, well. Have we a thickening plot? (Of course—the solution to her dilemma of revealing her secret is lying some more. So frustrating! But you have to admit it makes sense. And that's a flaw of hers.) So tell me what you think! Predictions and constructive criticisms are encouraged and appreciated! :)**


	40. Fortune Cookie Phobia

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: WHAT? You say I need to write a disclaimer? What is this illegality of which you speak? !**

**A/N: I'm back! :) I was going to wait until tomorrow or the next day to update, but my hits were going down, and I wanted to get this up ^^ And it's way too late at night, which is why I don't have time for all my usual long responses, except for a couple generalizations. So I'll be quick here, and say to enjoy this chapter! It's basically just fun and fluff and silliness and a break from insanity into a more normal life :) Kind of a welcome thing for poor Diana and company. So in general: Yep, the lying will basically bite her in the ass in a major way. But all in good time. And hahahaha well we'll just have to see if she jinxed the Meteor thing or not XD (I'll just say that, no, everyone does not die in a firebomb of insanity. That would be awful.) Oh, and Angel of Fate, I read your oneshot~! So sad D': But not quite all sad. I see what you meant :) I don't think I reviewed, but it was very good and I liked it a lot! Now onwards with the chapter of happiness!**

**Chapter 40: Fortune Cookie Phobia!**

**Tuesday, 20 August, 1809 hours**

"Goddess, I love hacking up those freaky lizard things," Diana sighed in satisfaction, looking at Tifa upside down.

"Because I'm sure that's an entirely normal summary of the average workday." Tifa shook her head resignedly, glancing over the top of the shirt she was sewing up. "I can't believe the size of this needle," she muttered. "Although I suppose it takes quite a bit to get through leather like this…" She glanced up. "Your face is bright red, you know. Careful you don't lose feeling in your feet or something."

"I know, my face feels heavy," she complained back.

"Then get down—er, undo yourself—I mean reposition—oh, you know." Tifa said patiently as she waved a hand.

"But it's funny looking at everything wrong ways up!" Diana positively giggled.

"Okay, I know for a fact that when the blood rushes to your head, you get loopy. I'm telling you this for your own good," the other girl declared, laying the shirt aside and raising an eyebrow at her friend.

"Wheeeeee…hahahahaaaa…" Diana began to shake in fits of laughter. "Ha…aaaa_aahhhh_!" She had wobbled too far and came crashing down from where she had been holding a handstand against Tifa's wall.

"What the Leviathan was _that_?" A small black blur zipped into the room, regarding Diana sprawled on the floor in confusion.

"That, Yuffie, is what happens when our Diana decides to do something stupid for an extended period of time," Tifa said pointedly.

"Oh, shut up," Diana snorted, picking herself up and brushing off her sweatpants unnecessarily. "Heh. Although that was kinda fun…" She wandered into the kitchen in search of water, staggering a step or two from the intense head rush. "What was that noise?" she called back into the main room. "I think I just heard your eyeballs hit the ceiling!"

"No no, they went clear through the window behind me," Tifa joked back.

Diana laughed as she hunted through the packed fridge for the bottled water (the tap quality wasn't great) and let out a giant gasp as she located several colored cans. "You have soda? ! Oh, Gaia, I haven't had soda in weeks—" She pulled one out and literally nearly tore the entire top off by accident as she popped the tab and chugged half the can in a few seconds.

"_Whoa_." Yuffie had poked her head in. "I wish _I_ could do that," the teenager said with wide eyes. She had been wandering around, bored without the ever-watchful Vincent, and had spent the past hour or so hanging around with Tifa. Diana had just come in from a long series of fairly easy monster-killing runs, and had showered and changed at Tifa's. Well, halfway, at least. She was still in just her sports bra, having failed to remember any extra clothing (she had left the pants at Tifa's by accident a week or so ago.) Hell, she didn't care. She wasn't planning on going anywhere, and she had spent several hours sweating in too many layers, so she was done with that entirely.

The day's missions had been easy, sure, but they had been long and had gotten repetitive after a while. However, she was still in "SOLDIER mode" and had been fidgety and in need of movement from the moment she had walked in the door. The whole handstand situation had been the product of random boredom (the first attempt had involved her possibly denting the wall, as she had kicked up with a little too much enthusiasm) and in any case, she was now desperate for caffeine. Now all she had to do was protect it from Yuffie. The girl had enough energy.

Speaking of protecting things from the pint-sized ninja. To put it bluntly, Tifa and Diana had spilled the secret. Yes, that meant The Secret. Yuffie had been hanging around with Tifa more and more often, and seeing as how the small girl already had an impossible number of extremely effective methods of obtaining scarily accurate information, it was becoming harder and harder to hide. So, the two older girls had consulted and decided to put some faith in her. For all her hyperactivity, she would rather sell her soul than give up her honor and betray a friend. She was almost painfully loyal, like a retriever or something. So the two figured their secret was safe—and besides, it was awfully bothersome having to watch their words around their younger friend.

"What should we do…" Tifa sighed, coming in behind the ninja. "I should start dinner soon. I don't really feel like cooking…" She looked at Diana. "Pizza?"

Diana broke away from her can of soda for another two seconds. "Nuh-uh. Wutaian takeout, baby! I might as well go all-out if I'm gonna be a fatty today."

Her best friend laughed and Yuffie shrugged her agreement. "Right. "Fatty." Like it ever makes a difference. All right then. The Sector Four place does delivery, right?"

"The one with the funky symbols on the takeout menu does," Diana affirmed. "Get extra fried rice. I'm feeling the need."

"Done deal." Tifa walked off in the direction of the phone to order a whole pile of food; probably enough for twice the people, as usual. Then again, Diana's roommates would probably be quite appreciative if she brought leftovers back to the dorm.

Yuffie sighed. "How come you get to eat so freakin' much and nothing happens?" she complained.

Diana raised an eyebrow. "I need all the calories I can get with this job, and any extra I work off like hell. Easy as that. And, hello—what are you? I'm sorry, I didn't see you because you turned sideways!"

"Well, yeaaaah, but you don't have an excuse, you're old—!" she whined.

Diana snorted. "I'm barely four years older than you, short stuff. And I've always been skinny."

"But that's not the right word—no, seriously! Damn, if you were a guy, you'd have a friggin' eight-pack or something! You're just crazy-crazy-crazy-crazy-fit." Yuffie pouted slightly.

"Ha! There, you said it yourself! It's muscle buildup, not being skinny. Touché," she remarked when the younger girl stuck her tongue out impudently in response. "And, hello—" she lowered her voice to a confidential whisper— "Why do you think all the SOLDIER guys are so dead sexy?" Yuffie giggled at that.

"Twenty minute wait. I guess it's faster on weekdays. Hey, why don't we invite the guys over?" Tifa asked as she set the phone down.

"Like, all the guys? 'Cause I know the "twins" are off doing something tonight," Diana offered, making air quotes.

Tifa grinned slowly. "Well then, what about just _our _guys?"

"Eeeee," Yuffie wrinkled her nose like someone had mentioned cooties. "I am so outta here—I was gonna go find Vinnie anyways."

Diana raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Yeah? He wouldn't happen to be _your _guy, would he?" she teased.

"No-oooo!" The ninja stuck her tongue out. "He's too old for me anyways!" she insisted.

"Mmmmmm-hm," Tifa contributed, not even glancing up from the text she was sending to Cloud to tell him to come over and bring Zack. With the promise of food, of course.

"Yeah!" Yuffie defended. "By the by, on a completely unrelated topic—where were you coming from yesterday morning?" This she directed at Diana.

"Hm?" the brunette blinked. "Umm…oh, with the rod thing?" she chuckled evilly. "Yeah, I was—oh. Uh, I was…" Her expression dropped rapidly into dread.

"Ohhh, I know that look. You were at Zack's." An evil grin stretched across Tifa's face. "Right, right…"

Yuffie spoke up way too casually. "_Yeah_, and, uh, on that note…" She reached into the fridge, popped the top off her soda, and took a long swig in the dramatic pause that followed. "So." She propped her elbows on the counter and looked at Diana, who raised her eyebrows expectantly and tipped her soda can back to finish it off. "You two _gotten it on _yet?"

Diana lurched backwards and doubled over forward, nearly spraying the remains of the soda everywhere. She choked violently and hacked until the liquid found its way out of her trachea and down her esophagus. "Have we _what_?" she wheezed, looking up at the grinning teenager, who leaned farther toward Diana.

"You know. Done it. I mean, considering you did come from his room…"

Tifa was behind Yuffie, laughing silently into her hands, trying not to give herself away but failing miserably.

"_No_, we have not "done it", thank you very much," Diana spluttered. "We just—I fell asleep—and, sure, it's happened twice but—but—it's not—"

"Oh, twice?" Yuffie asked gleefully.

Tifa still stood behind her, chuckling. "Well, to be entirely fair, the first time was when everyone had been drugged and stuff from the food and everything, remember?" she offered. "But the second time…well… He did that entirely on purpose, now didn't he?" she smiled widely.

"No! I mean—well, yeah, he admitted—but not _like that_! I guess he—it wasn't my fault, and nothing happened besides—well, not really—and—hell, ask _him_!" She planted her hands on her hips defiantly.

"Yeah, ask _him_!"

Diana jumped, actually squeaked, spun around and kept spinning on the slippery floor, and fell smack on her butt. "WHY?" she groaned, throwing her head back.

The sight of Zack appearing in the doorway after hearing the last few lines of dialogue and jumping in just because he felt like making a dramatic entrance, followed by Diana's reaction, was too much for the other two girls, and they collapsed against each other, laughing helplessly.

"Hold it—did I just _sneak up on you_?" Zack asked gleefully as Cloud walked around him, rolling his eyes.

"I suppose you did," she huffed, getting to her feet and crossing her arms.

"That was fast," Tifa commented in surprise, Cloud's arm around her waist.

"We're just magic like that," Zack offered, grinning infuriatingly at Diana, who was still mock glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

Cloud pulled a face at his friend. "We were already out," he explained. "Good timing." He smiled down at Tifa.

"Dammit, Spiky, you blew it." Zack made a dejected face, and quickly beamed at Diana when he saw her expression softening slightly. "Although you should know I can be that talented if necessary."

"Of course you can," she said dryly. Suddenly she came to the realization that her stomach was, in fact, bare. As was most of her upper body. "OH JEEZ—" Like a blur, she was out of the kitchen, through the main room, around the corner and into Tifa's room, rifling through the drawers in hope of finding something that would fit her. This could be difficult. Tifa was a couple inches shorter, and though their builds could have been similar, in a few fairly important ways, her friend was considerably different in…proportion. _Gaia, I'm an idiot. The world does not need to see me in states of partial undress…_ She was no prude, so to speak, but she had her limits. It just wasn't normal to walk around like that when members of the opposite sex were around…

When she heard someone approach, she hardly thought anything of it and called out, "Yeah, one sec—I just hafta find something big enough—"

"I didn't mind," came the mischievous reply.

"Za-ack," she groaned. "For once in your life you have terrible timing."

"Aw, come on…coulda been a lot worse," he wheedled, leaning farther into the room.

She thought about it. "Yep. No doubt about that. You have got to stop walking into kitchens where I'm missing articles of clothing." She blew a piece of hair out of her face and snorted at the memory from the weekend.

He walked up behind her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he whispered very close to her ear, "Admit it. Your clothes just won't stay on."

She was proud of the fact that she could speak at all, all things considered. "Zack Fair, I swear I will hit you with something to get that mind of yours out of the gutter if necessary."

"Mmmmmmmmm-hm."

"Yes, absolutely. And I know you're giving me that look, so quit it."

"Well, if you insist—" And he spun her around to see her smiling nevertheless, and crushed his lips to hers before she could come up with some kind of witty comeback. She sighed in contentment and twined her fingers into his hair, chills running up her spine when his hand brushed across the bare skin of the small of her back. His tongue battled playfully with hers and just when she had almost forgotten that there was a world out there, a small whirlwind interrupted them.

"AGH! Okay, okay! When y'all start groping I am so outta here! Catch ya later! _Way _later!"

"I think she has the most unfortunate timing out of any of us," Zack muttered as the interruption retreated rapidly.

Diana chuckled. "It's possible."

"Guys? —Teef, whatever scares Yuffie I'm betting I won't have a problem with. Tifa says someone's gotta go pick up the food!" Cloud hollered unnecessarily as he poked his head in the door. "And Di, for Gaia's sake get some clothes on." He rolled his eyes and withdrew as Diana flushed very slightly.

The two looked at each other and shrugged. "I'll go! Hang on!" Zack yelled in the direction of the door. "I'll be back," he stated dramatically, trying to sweep out of the room and mostly failing.

Diana snorted loudly and turned back to the dresser, renewing her search. "Do you own nothing of color?" she muttered, rifling through a third drawer. She tried a t-shirt but quickly took it off again, cursing her slightly wide shoulders. In the end, she settled for a black tank top. She had to keep tugging it down, but it was the best she could do.

Cloud looked at her with something reminiscent of disapproval when she emerged. "That's hardly better, you know." He wrinkled his nose.

"Come onnnn, I go around dressed like a man most of the time!" she complained. "I don't get any leeway at times like these? And you sound like my mother."

He harrumphed and sprawled out on the couch.

"So, Yuffie ran?" Diana asked Tifa as she joined her in the kitchen.

Tifa laughed. "Yep. From the way she took off, I thought you and Zack must've been doing more than making out—"

"Oh, Gaia, not this again!" she groaned. "Have I not fully established that there is none of _that _involved—?"

"You know we're kidding." Tifa fixed her with a look, as if to say, 'please tell me that you know we would never be serious about something like that.'

"I know, of course I know; it's just weird… I mean…" she sighed, and paused in edging over to the fridge, from which the soda cans were calling her name again. "I've never had this," she said quietly. "You know? I've never, ever felt so…wanted this way before. I love him more than I think I can comprehend, which is…strange…" She smiled slightly and shook her head. "Huh. Listen to me. I'm saying all sorts of things today."

"No, it makes sense," Tifa reassured her, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It makes more sense than you realize. That's how it works. It's supposed to make absolutely no sense at all, and that's the beauty of it. Love is…" she paused, "probably the one thing that is the hardest to understand in this world."

* * *

"Wutaian takeout for four!" someone bawled obnoxiously from the front door. All three of them jumped and Cloud ran to the door, flinging it open only to be trampled by a mountain of takeout bags with legs and a mop of black spikes on top.

"Aw, he's learned to fetch," Tifa grinned teasingly.

"Bringers of food definitely go way up in my book," Diana declared, snatching an entire carton of pork fried rice off the top. She leaned around the pile and kissed Zack on the cheek. "Thanks," she grinned.

"Who wants to watch a movie?" Tifa sang, relieving Zack of half his load and depositing it on the coffee table.

"Please none of the chick flicks," Cloud moaned faintly, safely on the couch, from where he deftly caught a falling bag of fortune cookies that Zack had dropped.

"No worries," she laughed. "There's not much of that to be had here…" She was practically inside the cupboard, rummaging through piles of random items to get to the rest of her movies.

"Pass the noodles," Cloud requested of Diana, who rolled her eyes and muttered something about lazy SOLDIERs but tossed him the carton all the same.

"Ooh! Can we watch a lame action movie so we can dub over and make fun of it? !" Zack bounced up and down on the couch excitedly, making Cloud nearly lose his noodles.

"Yes please," Diana said, breaking apart her chopsticks happily.

"On it," said Tifa as she continued to sift through empty CD cases, DVDs, old tapes, endless tangles of cords, and dust balls that were making her give small sneezes every few seconds. "Ahh! Here's a good one! Haven't seen it in years—heroine with lots of weapons, government conspiracy, plenty of explosions—awesome. Let's go with that." She fiddled for a minute with the player, bent over in front of the TV. Diana chose not to comment on the fact that Cloud seemed to be physically restraining himself from openly staring at her backside. A snigger escaped a highly amused Zack when Cloud apparently gave into the testosterone screaming at him, at which point the blonde turned to look at the two of them in confusion. Zack winked pointedly, and that was too much for Diana, who nearly fell over in giggle fits. Cloud's face abruptly took on a bright pink shade, but he didn't bother with the usual defensive mutterings.

Tifa rolled her eyes, blissfully unaware at the real source of her friends' amusement, pressed play, and hopped onto the couch next to Cloud. She flashed him a dazzling smile when he handed her the second box of noodles and he was temporarily blinded.

* * *

"'My name is not important. I am a large bald man who resembles a creepier Rude and I am going to spy on you creepily through my creeper sunglasses while throwing lame threats at you…'" Cloud said in his best "dark and sinister" voice.

"'I can't siiiiing, but I'm in this bar anywaaaaays, being a ditz and completely unaware that a fight is clearly about to break out…'" Tifa sang senselessly.

"Aaaaaand cue the table flip!" Zack punched the air in triumph. "Powned!"

"Stunt artist. Stunt artist. Ooh, maybe not that one. Stunt artist. Not that one, either. Stunt—oh, come on, that is _so _digitalized! Even _I _have trouble doing that!" Diana commentated indignantly, sitting straight up and pointing at the screen accusatorily. The sudden movement made Zack yelp, as Diana's legs were crossed over his lap. (It had been tempting, but she had argued that she was too heavy to sit on him.) She looked at him quickly. "Sorry."

"No worries, you didn't hit anything important." He just beamed innocently and she rolled her eyes.

"Well, thank the gods for that!" she held up her hands in mock horror.

He shot her a sly sidelong glance and Diana cut him off before he could take that any further. "Watch the movie."

Zack made an amused noise of affirmation but just couldn't help himself. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him on the couch, causing her to fidget slightly as the already-short tank top inched up her flat stomach. Zack was fairly sure that her exact words would be _'you're such a guy' _if she could hear what was going on in his head at the moment. He smirked when she shivered slightly.

"Cold?" he inquired, his breath fluttering past the hair by her ear.

"Nah," she retorted. "Not while I've got my Puppy," she grinned, looking up to his eyes.

Forty-seven minutes later, a lull in the action came and the sound coming from the speakers stacked next to the TV dwindled. The entire room seemed to ease into a comfortable stillness.

And Diana was so, so tired from doing physical work all day, and mentally exhausted from her ever-present problems, and she was curled up against Zack who was so, so warm, and she had eaten too much and the sounds were slowly slipping away from her, and her eyes were heavy, and she just couldn't move at all, even if she had wanted to, but she didn't, and it felt so, so good to just be doing nothing at…

She was unconscious in under a minute.

Zack noticed right away and glanced down in surprise, wondering if he was imagining it. No; she only got that innocent, peaceful expression when she was sleeping. A smile quirked his lips to one side and he leaned his head against hers carefully. It became he who was unable to focus on the screen, the voices fading and everything going fuzzy as his muscles relaxed and his lamplight eyes drifted shut, his breathing deepening as he succumbed to a light doze.

* * *

Tifa glanced over at her friends at the other end of the couch. They had slumped against each other in sleep, tangled in a mess of limbs and pillows and crossing breaths.

She smiled that kind of smile that no one sees. The kind that has learned to accept the feelings of another person, without going overboard with a whole heap of emotions worthy of a soap opera. The kind that just the wearer realizes that he or she is bearing, and thinks about stopping it, but then just gives into and continues to meditate on the source of the smile in question in peace. The kind when it doesn't matter than no one else sees it, because the only recognition it needs is that of the one who wears it, and once they have done that, they have come to a conclusion.

She wasn't quite sure what that conclusion was yet. But she was astute enough to know what exactly it was that she was doing, and what that secretive little smile must—might—mean. Except that in another moment, she realized that she was not, in fact, the only one to bear witness to this tiny event.

The blonde man on whom she was leaning may or may not have felt her smile through their intertwined fingers. Regardless, he had noticed. Perhaps because he noticed everything about her, no matter what motion she was making, or what words she was saying. Every detail was nothing short of a lifetime of stories in his eyes.

But she was blissfully unaware of these acute senses as of yet, and simply turned her face up to his and sent him a different kind of smile.

This one was the one reserved for him and him alone. This was what he fought to bring to her face, even when things were overloaded and every problem became a mountain and every injustice an outrage. He had wished for this smile, so full of tenderness and hope, countless times. From the time the little girl with the inky hair and the crimson-chocolate eyes stood up for him, stood in front of the small boy with the sun-flecked hair and wide, round eyes the color of the sky. He had tried, probably harder than was entirely healthy, to keep that first dazzling smile that she gave him on her face forever.

He had learned quickly that nothing could work that way—but that hadn't stopped him. And even with an interlude of unknown years and months and minutes and seconds, he came back full force, trying harder than ever. For her. Anything for her, for that smile.

And here, now, he got it again—a small victory, all because he did nothing more than notice. And that was enough for the both of them.

* * *

"Hmm? Whassgoinon?" Diana groaned sleepily as the buzz of the movie faded unexpectedly and she was jostled slightly out of her comfortable position. "Aw, jeez…I never fall asleep during movies…" she complained, the grogginess evacuating her system faster than should have been possible.

Zack yawned widely and turned his head in an attempt to cover it. "It's not even twenty-one—I mean, nine-thirty yet?"

"Man, you two were _out_," Cloud remarked. "Full day, I guess."

"Yeah, suppose so." Diana shrugged and struggled into an upright position. Come to think of it, she wasn't tired at all anymore; not really. Her gaze suddenly lighted on a heap of small plastic bags on the coffee table and she gave a dramatic gasp. "Guys! Guys, look what we forgot!"

Tifa followed her line of sight and raised one dark eyebrow. "Fantastic."

"Aw, come on, I know you like them," Diana wheedled, tossing two of the bags towards that end of the couch.

"Fortune cookies? Really?" Cloud sighed but started to laugh. "Wait!" he exclaimed as Tifa popped open the bag in her hands and started to snap the cookie in half. "Swap with someone, otherwise it doesn't work!"

Zack gave his friend an odd look. "Why do you know these things? Oh, wait, but that explains that time when I got something about "using my undying patience to my advantage" or something like that…" he reasoned. Diana chuckled and plucked the cookie out of his hand, replacing it with hers. She cracked it and was about to read the paper that she was prying out, but Cloud interrupted, flapping a hand at her.

"You gotta eat the cookie first! Don't you people know how to do this right?" There was a particularly loud crunch from somewhere in the back of his mouth and he winced slightly. "You're gonna jinx it or something! You don't mess with destiny."

The other three complied hastily, and the sounds of muffled crunching filled the area for a few seconds.

"Done!" Tifa chirped, unrolling her slip of paper and scanning it quickly. "Huh. 'Learn Wutaian: mother—masshaisse…see…chi…' Hey, you know, I don't speak the language!" She poked Cloud in the chest when he started chuckling quietly and flipped the paper over. "Let's see. 'Let no obstacle, however tall or strong, stand in the way of your greatness.'" She shrugged. "Classic."

"You have the power!" Zack crowed, punching a fist into the air comically. "Um." He squinted at his piece of paper and laughed loudly. "'Dog.'" Then he sobered quickly, blinking several times. "Uh. I'm not even trying to say that. Anyways: 'A hero's strength may be measured, not by the scars he bears, but by the determination of his heart.'"

There was a moment of silence, which Cloud yet again broke. "See?" He threw his crumpled-up wrapper at Zack's spiky head. "Destiny."

Zack's face broke into a wide smile. "I like this one," he declared as he smiled childishly, folding the paper up carefully and tucking it into a pocket.

Diana smiled and unfolded her own fortune. "'Tree.' _Tree_? Are you kidding me? I don't need any more nicknames, let alone in other languages," she snorted, taking one look at the surprisingly elaborate word and rolling her eyes. "I think we need Yuffie to translate. Lessee. 'Truth is not something we choose to reveal, but rather what our words, thoughts, and actions reveal in the end.'" She grimaced. "How thrilling," she muttered, thinking again of divine intervention and glaring at the ceiling. Cloud followed her line of sight in puzzlement.

Tifa shot her a concerned 'I-want-to-tell-you-something' glance, but Diana waved it off and looked at a mildly confused Zack, who was wrinkling his nose in thought.

"So! Cloud!" she very nearly yelled, making Zack jump. "Whaddaya got?"

"'Yellow—oh, you're kidding me!'" he complained, reading off his paper. "'Yellow bird', indeed," he grumbled, choosing to tackle the other side instead. "'Do not despair, for size is not everything.'" He blinked once and made a face, thinking of his short stature until Zack burst out laughing.

"_In bed_!" the other man guffawed loudly. Cloud yelped and began a long and incomprehensible string of indignation and threats as Tifa somehow managed to laugh in a nice way. Diana was considering whacking Zack with something, but it was just too perfect and she went into hysterics instead.

"I swear! Something got lost in the translation! No, really—!" Cloud was still making futile protests, his face growing increasingly redder.

"Right, right…" Zack gasped, wiping at his eyes. "Oh, sweet Gaia, I'll never question _destiny _again… Whoa! Hold up, hold up—_nobody move_!"

Diana froze in place, half off the couch, and looked at him. Cloud did likewise, and Tifa scanned the room surreptitiously.

"Tifa," Zack whispered, "is the door locked?"

"It should be," she whispered back. "Why—"

"Shh!" he cut her off frantically. "Don't move," he said as he glanced at Diana.

"I didn't move," she muttered, "but what in the hell are you looking at?"

"Di?" Zack continued hoarsely without responding. "Get me my sword."

"Get your own damn sword, but you didn't bring it, did you?"

"Cloud? Did I bring my sword?"

"Er, no, you left it in the—"

"IT'S MOVING!" Zack actually started to jump to his feet and make a bid for the door, but Diana seized him by the seat of his pants and dragged him back.

"Oh no you don't! You're not leaving us here with some unknown danger that none of us seem to be able to see—"

"BUT IT'S GETTING CLOSER—"

"Zack," Tifa asked carefully, eyes fixated on a spot on the floor, close to the wall, "are you by any chance looking at th—"

"S—sp—SPIDER!" Zack gave a _shriek _and jumped up to stand on the couch.

Six eyes shot to the tiny black spot on the carpet that was migrating slowly towards Zack's spot on the couch. There was half a beat of silence, then mayhem broke loose.

"You've got _arachnophobia_?"

"I'll go get a newspaper—"

"Whoops, here it comes again."

"_Where is my sword_? !"

"Chill out!" Diana leaped up and smacked a hand over her boyfriend's mouth. He continued to yell, though the sounds were stifled considerably. "Zack. Zachary! The spider is not going to hurt you," she said patiently. Gaia knew she had dealt with irrational fears before.

He squirmed but quieted, whimpering slightly as she removed her hand, and they watched Tifa scoop the arachnid up with a sheaf of paper and tip it out the open window across the room.

Diana turned back to him. "Better?"

He made a noise in the back of his throat. "Why didn't you squish it?" he asked of Tifa, fidgeting and apparently just realizing that he was standing on the couch.

The dark-haired young woman rolled her eyes. "It wasn't hurting anybody."

"Arachnophobia," Diana muttered to herself. "I ask you…"

"Wha-at?" Zack whined defensively. "They've got a bajillion eyes that watch your every move, and they're hairy all over the place, and _eight legs_! That's not natural—"

"What, and mostly bald pink things that walk around on two legs with something sticking out the front of their face and fur only on their heads aren't?" Cloud snorted. It appeared to take a second for Zack to realize that his friend was talking about humans.

He opened his mouth to make a retort, then closed it, then opened it again, and snapped it shut, looking frustrated. "I still say I should've gotten my sword," he muttered before Diana laughed and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Arachnophobia, indeed…" she chuckled to herself again as the two young men left the apartment twenty minutes later.

**A/N: Hehehehe oh Zack... Oh fortune cookies... How I love these people. Hope you guys enjoyed the slight break, and please review...they make me happy ;)**


	41. It's Not My Time

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: "Run, after careful data and inventory collection, we have established that you have yet to find a loophole in the fair use agreement stating that you can claim ownership-" "Well then, work harder, why don't you? What am I paying you for- ? !" "*sigh* You're a broke teenager, Run." "...Aw yeah. Right."**

**A/N: I just realized that I have now been a member of fanfiction for a year and I published the first chapter of my first story two days from now a year ago. :o So weird! But pretty cool. So anyhows, this chapter, prepare to giggle evilly ^^ well, for a little bit, anyways. (We've gotta get serious sometime.) Oh so I had a thought earlier today - I know during Crisis Core Cloud's only sixteen or so and Zack's eighteen-ish, and I realized that I had implied that you could join SOLDIER at eighteen or nineteen in one of the first chapters. When I thought about the kind of world they live in, and the company's ethics (*snort* _what _ethics) I realized this was probably unrealistic. But all in all, the characters really needed to be just a little bit older for all that goes on-you know, just everything. I _would_ start out earlier and span a longer period of time, but Diana can obviously only keep this up for so long (COUGH). I'm planning to do a "several months later" and then maybe like a "four years later" or something to that effect :3 but let's leave those discussions for a later time, shall we? Just thought I'd state that-now, on to respond to you guys again!**

**Sarah: **Well, he needed a fear that wasn't exactly to be expected...I thought it'd be kind of classic ^^ *shrugs* I'm telling ya, don't mess with the destiny... Hahaha glad I made you happy. Thanks! **Shatter: **Heehee Yuffie...she's just such the awesome little ninja friend always hanging around. Hehehe, glad to know you appreciated all that madness. YAY! I is rocks :3 Thank you ^^ **Ultimate: **Oh the times we have laughing over these things. I thank the martian ;) **Shadow: **You're welcome! :D Here's the update. Tada! **Sayonara: **Hahahaha well I certainly enjoyed writing it. And yeah: single serious note lol. Btw: you're reading UnderdogAngel's new fic, yes? :3 I likes it much as well!

**Just saying: if you enjoy the whole Zack-and-Cloud-doing-stupid-things-with-non-guyxguy-stuff then hop over to UltimateSpirit's profile (she should be on my list of favorite authors) because she's got a great crackfic going that I've been betaing ^^ Now onward! CHARGE!**

**Chapter 41: It's Not My Time**

**Wednesday, 21 August, 1423 hours**

Diana, as herself for once, was walking nonchalantly through the halls of one of the Shinra buildings, having just completed another assignment. On the way back, she had changed her clothing and such to go see Aerith in the medical wing for a while (it could start to look suspicious if she repeatedly went as Devon) and was on her way to go (much to her irritation) change back into a SOLDIER, as was her duty. She intended to ask Zack if he wanted to sign up for an assignment together, as he had previously suggested. Now dressed in rolled-up cargo pants and a jacket with a tank top underneath, she blew a stray piece of hair that had worked its way out of her ponytail out of her right eye.

She was considerably zoned out and running on autopilot, and understandably, too. It had only been two days, but she had heard nothing more from Aerith except mystery and frustration on the topic of Genesis. He was only getting worse—she saw him from time to time, around Shinra. Diana didn't know how long he might have before the affliction spread, or something worse happened—she didn't even know what, but she wasn't particularly keen on finding out.

There were a few people farther behind her in the hall, and one of them was talking loudly—something about making SOLDIER too—but she tuned them out. She absently fingered the spiral-linked chain around her neck and the two small charms that dangled from it. She was refusing to stand down on this and do nothing while her friend was in trouble. With any luck at all, she could help instead of hurt by taking action fast. She only wished that some answers would present themselves with a little more clarity—

Her inner worries and musings were interrupted by a heavy hand on her upper arm. Strangely, her only gut feeling was of confusion as she was slammed sideways into the nearest wall.

"Hey, shrimp, didn't you ever learn to pay attention when you're being talked to?" growled a voice from somewhere behind her and up.

Suddenly it clicked for her, and her calm manner deserted her at once. _It's that jerk from cadet times—oh, whatshisname…whatever. He thinks I'm Devon! How am I supposed to get out of this one?_

"Didn't _you _ever learn to leave people the frick alone?" she muttered to buy time, but she still didn't try to fight back. What was she supposed to do!

"What was that?" he said in a low voice, not letting go of her arm.

"You heard me," she snapped at an equal volume, still not doing him the dignity of turning to face him. Now she anticipated the fist coming for the center of her back. She quickly spun away, but his reflexes were good. Too good to be normal… _Wait. He was the one talking really loudly behind me. Something about SOLDIER—aw, crap, he made it in? Damn, my life just got harder…_

"Look at you, with your mako enhancements," she taunted him, shifting her weight slightly. She realized that he really had no clue that he was now facing off with a woman. Okay, so he wasn't _that _dense—she could understand how someone could make the mistake, especially from behind. But it suddenly dawned on her that she could have one heck of a lot of fun with this, and with a fantastic excuse, too… "Ain't that just something," she muttered in consideration.

"You don't have any Firsts to hide behind this time," he retorted. "You're not getting any help."

"Hide? Like hell," she growled. "But remind me why you're attacking me?" After all, she was Diana, she thought with a smirk.

He yelled and charged, going for her right leg with a snap kick. She pivoted away, smashing her heel into his back as he flew past, but he was nearly gone by the time her foot got there. Instead, she received a sharp blow to the back of her other knee, and she backed off fast, cursing under her breath. _Crap. Don't forget about the mako, you idiot—what am I talking about. I've got it too, for the love of all that's holy!_

She pushed off the wall behind her and hooked her arm around one of his as she sped towards him, throwing him off-balance as he tried to get a hit in. When that failed, he grabbed her ankle and threw her to the floor, intending to body-slam her (Diana recalled sorely) as he had tried to in the past. She shot both legs up and caught him halfway, sending him flying over her, and in a flash she was on her feet to dive into a slide that knocked his own feet askew, as he was already halfway up. As she turned back around, a thick arm came swinging into view and her entire body was literally backhanded, causing her to fly several yards down the hall until she flipped backwards and landed standing. It was like being hit by a moving vehicle, but she had had much worse. She ducked just in time under his next lunge and drove a fist into his stomach, causing him to double over for a split second, but it was all she needed.

If either of them had been paying attention (it was probably a good thing they were not, as this would probably result in them being beaten to a pulp by the other within seconds) they would have seen the small gathering of SOLDIERs and cadets that had heard the commotion and were eager to witness whatever excitement was taking place. But of course, they were only focused on the fight, and any outside distractions were automatically dismissed by the brain.

Diana whacked him on the back hard, forcing him to straighten up again, and she helped him over with an upwards scissor kick that was made fairly difficult by his height over her. It was effective nonetheless, and she followed around his side, grabbing his dominant arm and twisting it up behind his back. She slammed him against the wall, panting.

"Now would you care to answer: _why _are you attacking me?" she asked, trying not to grin in triumph, in more ways than one.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he nearly spluttered, clearly infuriated by this time. "You piss me off the first day, and then—"

"Oh, I see," she said quietly, just trying to keep up the act. She cut off his angry spouting. "You think I'm Devon Loveless, don't you?"

"I—what? Don't play mind games with me, freak—!" he began to yell, but she stopped him again.

"I'm _not _my _brother_!" she half-shouted, wrenching his arm back into place and shoving him away from her, several feet down the hall. She rooted her feet in place, arms crossed and green eyes glaring daggers. It was then that she noticed the small gathering of a dozen or two men around them, who were all frantically muttering to each other.

Understandably, a "_Huh?"_ was all he could manage.

Diana knew that they were all staring at her, probably in a lot of places that they shouldn't have been. Most of them knew her as Devon, and they were now taking in the different clothing and lack of Third Class uniform, the female voice, the subtle curves.

There was a second of hushed silence, then a male voice came out of the crowd. "That's hot," it proclaimed.

Diana resisted the urge to smack a hand over her eyes, and merely exhaled hard. "Pick your fights with a little more awareness," she advised her stunned opponent, raising an eyebrow. "And—" She stopped suddenly as an extremely familiar figure stalked forward through the crowd, and barely stopped herself from gaping like many of the other onlookers.

"Getting into trouble already?" the tall, black-haired man smirked, glancing pointedly around.

Diana resisted the urge to laugh out loud, seeing as how it would probably ruin the whole effect that he was going for, and cocked her head to the side. "You know me. I just go looking for it," she retorted dryly.

Zack barked a doglike laugh and came up beside her, taking one of her hands in his and giving her that special smile. "Trust me, I know," he murmured. "So, what happened?" he inquired nonchalantly, like the two of them weren't being stared at like the last living evidence of Gaia's creation.

Diana flicked a glance at her would-be attacker, Whatshisname, who looked to be on the verge of a total mental breakdown. She did feel a little sorry for the guy. Sure, he was a total jerk-wad to her most of the time, but she had just confused the living crap out of him, and she wouldn't have wanted him to receive quite _all _the blame for the incident even if she had been posing as Devon at the time. "Oh, jeez…" she began with a touch of sympathy. "Look, I'm not Dev—he's my twin and we're basically identical… I bet you two don't get along," she mused. "But, no harm done!"

"What, and you fought back?" Zack muttered in her ear.

"I can't exactly turn my reflexes off on command! Besides, people actually want me dead, remember?" she replied in a low hiss.

He grimaced in acknowledgement, then had an amusing thought which brushed the clouds away. "Overtaken by this one?" he directed at the (apparently) SOLDIER, poking at Diana jokingly. "You're not getting soft, are you, soldier?"

He began to stammer and apologize profusely, and Diana waved it off, trying not to make the whole incident malicious. "No, forget it—really, you wouldn't be the first to make the mistake. And no damage done, either!" She spread her arms jovially and a couple of the men watching went slightly weak in the knees at this realization. "Hey, see you, Zack," she grinned up at him, squeezing his hand slightly before turning to go on her way.

He waited until she was all the way through the sea of men, a few of whom whistled, and a few of whom looked to be on the verge of having an apoplexy. Then he shouted obnoxiously and in true Zack manner, "I love you!"

"Love you too!" she hollered back, and she could practically hear his ego swelling. She rolled her eyes and smiled. It was all right, since any given male ego could only manage to stay intact for so long in her presence. She felt the stares all the way down the painfully long and straight corridor, until she turned the corner and permitted herself to burst out laughing loudly.

**Several hours later**

Diana, dressed in her SOLDIER uniform, stumbled through the door into the dorm, clenching her teeth and pressing down on the already soaked pad of gauze in her hand. She hissed as she flexed her hand to grasp the door handle, and a swipe of red was left on the metal.

"Holy Goddess. Dev, what happened?" Cloud shot up from the couch, his sky eyes wide.

"Mission went bad," she gritted out shortly. "Monster patrol—fine till a bunch of _them _came…"

"A bunch of—never mind, you need help?" He half-reached toward his female friend, but she shook her head.

"Be in the bathroom." And she limped as quickly as she could for her room. Realizing with a slight gasp that turning on the water hurt her hand, she tapped at the handle with her elbow instead. "_Ow_…" she groaned as she let the water run over her right hand, against the better judgment of her pain receptors; but it was necessary.

Her knuckles and fingers were completely torn up, the sensitive skin not healing fast enough to stop the bleeding from all the tiny cuts and scrapes. _Never punch an armored animal without gloves on_… she chanted to herself. She hadn't had time to get her second one on, and had reacted instinctively, much to her later displeasure.

She didn't know what the monsters had been. All she knew was that they were big and vicious, with extremely effective natural armor, and not native to Midgar. And she was pretty sure that she also knew why they had attacked her. _Gee, who would want me dead in a painful, unpleasant way_… she thought sarcastically. _That was pretty bad, even with my sword_… She reached over her shoulder with her left hand, awkwardly grasping it at the wrong angle, and detached it from her back, laying it on the floor and out of the way.

Her old scar was throbbing, as she had taken a heavy blow to the face from a whip-like tail. The thin covering of makeup that subtly concealed her marred skin when she was acting as a SOLDIER was wiped completely off, and sweat was still running down her hairline. (She had discovered not too long ago but not too recently that her distinctive scar was a bit of a dead giveaway, and kept it carefully covered half of the time.) Hastily wrapping a swath of bandages around her hand, she kicked off her already-loose boot, rolled up her already-torn left pant leg, and growled softly at what she saw.

_At least I didn't, I don't know, sever any tendons or anything_, she thought in a poor imitation of optimism as she contemplated the twin gashes that were just beginning to knit up around the edges. They ran from above the line of her boots, all the way up the outside of her calf and past her knee. Quite frankly, she was surprised that she couldn't see any bone through the mess…but maybe the slashes weren't as deep as she thought and they were just wide, not to mention bleeding a lot. She soaked a washcloth in warm water and tried to clean out the slightly shallower of the cuts, but her blood just mixed with the water and dripped onto the floor, making the linoleum look like a regular gore-fest. She wiped up the crimson liquid that had run down her leg and under her foot inside her boot, thinking that she would have to check her entire uniform for bloodstains later. _Such a bother. But we don't want to insult Angeal and his honor ideology by showing up in a dirty uniform, now do we? No, because that could possibly result in being chopped in half by that meat-cleaver of his_… She chuckled to herself dryly as she attempted to clean out the lacerations on her leg, willing the bleeding to stop.

It did soon enough, and she bandaged her entire calf up securely and with minimal clumsiness, even with only her non-dominant hand available. As a SOLDIER, she had had to learn to be as good with one side as she was with the other, and it was just about the most useful skill to have. She never knew when she could be unexpectedly incapacitated, especially with her luck. Concluding that she might have a slight limp for a day or so, she yanked off her other boot and went to go change into a spare uniform quickly. _It'll take more than this to bring me down_, she thought grimly. Sending ridiculous numbers of weird, mutated monsters after her might just end up being ridiculously inefficient. But she would take care of her problems as they arose, and she silently swore not to take on any more solo missions until she knew what was going on. If only to appease the Goddess, as well as those friends who knew what form insanity was taking in order to plague her now.

**Thursday, 22 August, 1752 hours**

"I know, I _know _it hasn't been all that long, but seriously, I've got a really bad feeling about this entire thing," Diana stated agitatedly as she paced back and forth in front of Aerith. She was dressed as herself (boy, did that sound funny) and had made the journey down to the Sector Five slums as a result of a particularly disturbing dream the previous night followed by a day of feeling anxious and distracted. "It was like a sign or something—we have to try and fix this ASAP."

Aerith sighed. "I understand; I don't feel good about it either, but there honestly isn't anything I can find about a condition like his—"

"But can't you heal?" Diana cut her off out of desperation, then stopped herself to blow out a breath and run a hand through her hair. "Sorry. I'm coming off as being pushy." _And a lot of other not-so-nice things, too- ugh…_ "I'm sorry. I'm just so strung-out about everything, and he's worrying the bejeezus out of me… Sorry. But honestly, you have healing powers, yes?" she asked in a less demanding manner.

Aerith tilted her head from side to side hesitantly. "They're minimal, really. I just don't want to risk anything, or be a disappointment…"

Diana fixated her in place with a look, ceasing in her pacing. "Aerith. You couldn't disappoint someone if you _tried_." She extended a hand to place it on the other girl's shoulder. "And that's all you have to do, is try. If I tell you who he is, will you come with me? Will you try?" she asked quietly.

The last Ancient considered for several heavy, pensive seconds. "Well, all right. Yes. I'll do it." She smiled tentatively.

Diana exhaled and bowed her head, smiling in relief. "Great. Thank you. Thank you for this. Okay, so it's Genesis who's hurt."

"_Commander Rhapsodos_?" Aerith gaped slightly.

"I know, right?" Diana said grimly. "Last person you'd expect to have a serious injury like that—well, also one of the first you'd expect to be a stubborn pain in the you-know-where and not tell anyone, really." She licked her dry lips anxiously. "Hey—you mind if I use the water?" She turned to Aerith, who was deep in thought at this new discovery in the development of things.

"Sure, go ahead…" the other girl murmured. "I'm going to ask Gaia for some advice—maybe some help. I'll be a few minutes."

"Oh—yeah, sure. Take your time." Diana lowered her voice slightly and felt a sudden need to be quieter. She knelt down and unzipped the small backpack she had brought along, pulling out her water canteen. Padding quietly over to the tiny spring still bubbling up happily by the flowers, she filled the container and took a swig before screwing the cap back on. "And I thought water was just water," she chuckled softly, taking a seat on a pew and waiting patiently for Aerith. The Cetra was off on the opposite side of the flower patch, where a shaft of light broke through, somehow making it through the plate and blinking lazily through the hole in the roof of the church. Her hands were clasped in front of her, and her head was bowed slightly, her long braid falling down her back.

After a few minutes, she slowly straightened up and turned around, and Diana gave her an expression that asked, 'ready?'

She nodded and smiled, and they walked out of the church together without another word.

**A/N: Now, of course, since it's Diana...things aren't going to go as smoothly as planned. Right? (But in a good way! Nobody's dying or anything!) Next chapter should be considerably longer than this one; I know it's awkward, but there really was no other way to break it up. And all of the events next in the sequence of craziness have to be together :) Hope you enjoyed the butt-kicking, and review please! ;)**


	42. Of Sharpness and Solutions

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer:**

**A/N: Hello again :) Sorry the last chapter was a bit of a drag, but you know fillers. Have to live with them. But this one should be quite awesome! Hooray for funny stuff plus significance ^^ I'm actually a big fan of this little segment, a lot of it is prompted by past experiences...heh. I'm exhausted and sore and bruised but here you go, enjoy, and with any luck at all laugh your butt off. After this brief interruption, at least, which I apologize for if I am partially incoherent. I become both delirious and slightly dyslexic when I'm tired. ;)**

**Shatter: Awww thank youuu! :) means a lot that you think so. Ahaha, yes, no one likes a crazed Genesis. Thought that would be amusing :) it had to happen eventually. That and the whole, like..she's going to have to reveal the truth sometime soon... Oh men and egos. I've busted a few myself lately. Thanks! *NOMS* Shadow: No problem! Here be the fabled chapter ^^ Sarah: X) She does kick some serious butt. Oh how I love creating characters, it makes my life. Genesis shall be helped! Thanks! Sayonara: Isn't it great? ! I love it :) oh, Aerith-bashing in crackfics...just too tempting. Apparently UnderdogAngel thinks so too xD Thank you, I thought it would be good too keep in mind that there is in fact serious reality in all this. XD Hahaha enjoy! Ultimate: Heh. "Like hell." So true. *facepalm* that's not even the large bald/balled man, Ultimate...but I find it amusing that we keep laughing over than every time we bring it up. Aw thx for the envy moment I think. Lol YES but it's edited now :) Enjoy, my friend!**

**Chapter 42: Of Sharpness and Solutions**

On the train, they talked about frivolous things unrelated to the present crisis, and just barely took notice when the automated voice informed the passengers that the train was approaching the Sector 0 station and to be sure to collect all their belongings, and to have a nice day.

"So, you do have a plan, right?" Diana asked tentatively as she led Aerith down the hall that led to where the higher-ranking SOLDIERs lived in one of the dorm buildings.

"Of course I do! Well, mostly, at least, I think." Aerith smiled innocently and waved a hand in dismissal.

"_Mostly_? You _think_?" Diana muttered under her breath, but the Cetra didn't hear her. As they approached the collection of widely spaced doors along the hallway, Diana moved to the first one on the right and knocked confidently. When she got no answer after repeating the action, she tried the doorknob, but it was locked. This was understandable, of course, but irritating nonetheless. And Diana was easily irked these past few days, as her monthly gift was starting to overstay its grudging welcome.

Rather than force her way in, she opted to check Angeal's rooms (which was probably a significantly more logical course of action.) Upon knocking there with Aerith in tow, she detected several voices coming from within, and she half withdrew in surprise. _Oh, jeez, just watch it be somebody important— _she thought warily as someone approached on the opposite side.

But it was still Angeal who answered the door. He was actually drawing breath to bark something to the effect of _"SOLDIER! Why are you not in uniform?" _in greeting but stopped himself just in time. "Diana, what a surprise," he transitioned smoothly. "And Miss Gainsborough, of course."

Aerith smiled shyly. "Just Aerith, please, Commander."

"Pleased to meet you, Aerith—my name happens to be Angeal."

"Oh—okay." Her smile widened.

"Would you like to come in, or is this one of those drop-bys of yours?"

"Actually, we were just looking for Genesis. Is his Royal Quotingness around here?" Diana crossed her arms, remembering that she was still slightly teed off at her stubborn friend for being, well, stubborn.

The big First chuckled. "You're in luck. I don't think you'll find our other visitors too objectionable, either," he began, gesturing back into the room and motioning them inside. "My apartment seems to once again be overrun by—"

"HEY there!" someone male shouted, and suddenly a brown blur was in Diana's face as Max waved cheerily from inches away.

She blinked and cracked a grin. "Hey guys! What're you doing here?" She glanced at the couch, where Shane sat bouncing up and down anxiously and Zack appeared to be trying to calm him down. _There's a first_, she thought. _Haha! There's a _First_!…never mind._

"DI! Aerith!" Zack shouted, and he bounded up from his seat to squash the two girls into a double hug, kissing Diana on the forehead. "What're you doing here?"

"Looking for, um, Genesis," Aerith offered, glancing warily at Diana's now rapidly darkening expression. "But where is he?"

"Dunno, somewhere here, but Shane showed up because he said you told both him and Genesis that Genesis should consider taking on a temporary pupil and Gen is actually considering it and Shane's all nervous and Max just tagged along for the ride," Zack finished in one breath, cocking his head at Diana.

"Ahh. I see. So they're actually taking my advice?" Diana grinned in satisfaction. After seeing Shane perform in battle, especially with his materia, she had thought he had a similar style to Genesis. She had dropped the suggestion to her First Class friend that there was a Third with promising abilities that he might want to check up on, and apparently he had taken her for her word.

Suddenly, just the man she needed to see swept out of a back room and into the spacious living room area. "My office, seventeen hundred hours tomorrow evening, and we'll discuss the options. Late and the deal's off, Azarius." He pointed sternly at a seemingly petrified Shane, who was sitting as though he was connected to the couch by the seat of his pants and was at the same time being pulled upwards by a string attached to the top of his head. "And you three can stay for dinner." He waved a hand at Max and Zack as well, who were now standing behind Shane.

Angeal rolled his eyes at his friend's increasingly frequent habit of inviting people to stay over at Angeal's place. Sure, his Puppy was a given, but still.

Shane grinned widely with a "Yes, sir!" and turned to slap excited high fives with his two friends, and Diana took advantage of the moment to make the presence of her and Aerith known. "Awesome. Now. YOU!" she very nearly shouted, pointing threateningly at Genesis, who froze and whipped his head around so fast that she was surprise she didn't hear a crack.

"Oh. Hello." He unfroze and relaxed, then his eyes widened slightly at the glare she was giving him. "Er. I think… Peace?" For once he was less than overly articulate.

"Yeah, you better hope for some," she seethed. "Any improvement?" she rapped out, looking significantly at his left shoulder for emphasis.

"Ohh. Um. Well, it—it's not worse, per se, but…"

"Alright. Aerith, let's go. Genesis, Aerith; Aerith, Genesis; I believe you know each other." Diana waved back and forth between the two as the SOLDIER inched closer cautiously.

"A pleasure as always, miss." Genesis said smoothly, back in his element. He took Aerith's hand in his own and brushed his lips over her fingers, and Diana was surprised the girl didn't pass out on the spot.

"It's nice to see you, too, Genesis," she fairly gasped, blushing slightly.

"Okay, Prince Charming, let's move it. We haven't got all day, and I'm not done being mad at you," Diana declared, moving past Aerith and grabbing Genesis by the sleeve of his leather coat, dragging him into the next room. She assumed that Aerith was following.

"Hey! What? I demand a lawyer!" Genesis exclaimed haughtily, trying in futility to free himself. Diana turned and closed the door behind the three of them, seeing that they were in another living space, this one slightly smaller, with a television and a few beanbag chairs. "The TV isn't huge, but he has an excellent sound system," Genesis chose to comment offhandedly when he saw her looking. Maybe he was trying to diffuse her temper, but there wasn't much going for him.

"So here's the deal." Diana spun to face him, ignoring the confused voices from outside that were overlapped with Angeal's attempt at an explanation. "I'm still ticked that you didn't tell anyone, and Aerith's the friend I told you about. So she's gonna do the best she can to heal you," she informed him bluntly.

"You must know I'm a Cetra, right?" Aerith spoke up. "I do have a bit of an advantage," she smiled softly.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Diana muttered in addition, then brightened and clapped her hands. "I'll just leave you two to it, wouldn't want to interfere. Aerith—work your magic," she grinned ironically. The other girl laughed quietly.

"Is this really necess—" Genesis began to whine.

"YES it's really necessary, so sit your royal behind down and _strip, dammit!_" Diana fumed, backing out the door and shutting it again quickly.

"Ex_cuse_ me?" Zack yelped, springing up from the couch like he had gotten a little too friendly with a hot iron. Angeal performed a fantastic double facepalm behind him.

Diana sighed. "Calm down, Aerith just has to do some super-healing on an injury of his and he's being stubborn. Don't ask. Really."

Max was staring at her, one eye twitching slightly, not unlike during his "first encounter" with Diana. Shane was staring into space, probably daydreaming about materia or something. Angeal had begun muttering to himself.

"Oh. Heh. 'Kay then, I won't." Zack smiled innocently, meandering over to her to give her a hug. "Hello. How've you been?"

"Eh. Had my ups and downs," she shrugged, her face in his shoulder. Suddenly there was a massive gurgling noise from somewhere down below, and the two leaned apart and looked down at their stomachs in puzzlement at the same time. They then looked at each other and laughed. "Hey, Angeal," Diana chortled, "what's for dinner?"

He rolled his eyes again good-naturedly. "Whatever it is that you're planning on making!" he jibed.

She made a face. "You should know that my cooking skills extend only to a frying pan in the morning." She brightened. "But I'll do it if you help me to not set your kitchen on fire!" she suggested.

Zack scoffed in amusement and Angeal shrugged his agreement, beckoning her into the well-put-together kitchen. Diana dropped her small black backpack by the doorway. Angeal began showing her around, directing her to the drawers organized by food groups and the tools on the countertops and in the many racks.

A minute later, Diana suddenly had a flash of precognition while standing near the knife rack, and somehow knew what was going to be said when Max yelled in from the living room.

"Hey Diana! While you're in the _kitchen_, make me a—" He never got the chance to finish.

Shane had registered Diana flying into their line of vision inside the kitchen and across the wide room, mildly enraged and with something held in her right hand that was cocked back like she was about to throw a javelin. All of a sudden, that thing was flashing through the air and came to a whistling stop buried in the wall about three feet above his roommate's head.

"Make your own goddamn sandwich!" she screeched.

_Mood swing number two: duly noted_, said one of the many voices in Zack's head. _Must be a bad, uh…time._

The three males looked up slowly with expressions that covered a wide range of degrees of shock to regard the large, serrated bread knife stuck several inches into the wall. A tan package came hurtling at Max next, which he caught by reflex. It was a loaf of bread.

Angeal peered through the doorway to inspect the damage. "What's with that aim?" he murmured to Diana. "Less accurate than I'd expect, even with the spontaneity…"

She shrugged. "Could've been closer, but in case he stood up fast, you know… And I didn't want to have misjudged the trajectory in case there was too much of a drop on it and I ended up, well—yeah."

"Ah. I see." He nodded wisely.

"Ow," she muttered, favoring her left leg slightly as she paced back over to her temporary teacher in the culinary arts.

"Training injury?" he asked absently, digging through a cupboard.

"You could say that." The gashes on her leg were deep, and finally starting to really knit up on the outside after yesterday. They were limiting her calf muscle somehow, though, and she had to be cautious.

"Hmm. I noticed your brother had a leg injury, was it yesterday?" Angeal asked casually.

Too casually? _I'm paranoid—no, but—oh, I hate this with a passion_. "I think so. He never complains, but I thought he was limping. I think he was attacked by the same monsters that got me," she said offhandedly.

"Monsters?" Angeal made a bit of a face. "_Monsters _did that to your brother? And you?"

"They weren't normal monsters," she said darkly. Then she had a thought and looked at the commander sharply. "Zack's told you, hasn't he?" It really was more of a statement.

Angeal exhaled in amusement. "When is he _not _talking about you."

She blinked. "What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. Take a puppy, and throw it head over heels in love, and it's five times as irrepressible. I'm not entirely sure how that's possible, but it's the principle of the thing that counts…" he considered.

She blushed slightly. "Oh. Well then. I get that. And I suppose you're right, after all…" she trailed off as her thoughts wandered, pausing halfway across the kitchen with her intentions completely gone from her mind.

Angeal interrupted her meandering thought process. "So yes, he did tell me about your…unfortunate escapades. Seems there's a lot of that going around." He eyed her shrewdly.

She shook herself back to the present and refocused. "Huh. You can say that again. What I don't understand is who would possibly want—" She had a sudden frightening, potentially disturbing thought. Whirling to face the SOLDIER head on, she grabbed his arm, and his eyes widened in surprise. "You don't have to _tell _anyone, do you?" she asked hoarsely. "Like, the Director, or whoever, because I'm a—around, and Devon's a SOLDIER—?" Holy _shit _on a stick, she had just almost blurted out that she was a SOLDIER.

"I don't think so. Most of what I hear I pretend to have no knowledge of, anyway. Especially where you are involved." He raised an eyebrow speculatively and she winced slightly in recognition, releasing his arm. He noted distantly that she had a rather insanely strong grip. Well, if he was being entirely honest with himself, he wasn't too surprised.

She made a disgruntled noise. "Thanks, I guess. But, uh…yeah…so, what are we cooking?" she asked brightly. "I'm good with frying pans."

"Gaia help me," he muttered under his breath. "Soup," he informed her dryly. "Now—can you chop vegetables?"

She shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

A few minutes later, she was slicing up carrots, doing her best not to cut down too hard and impale Angeal's wooden cutting board. The owner of the knife cast her a sidelong glance once in a while, noting her look of slightly pained concentration when her brows drew together with increasing frequency.

"Are you sure you're all right over there? You know, with that…knife…" he asked, looking up from the rack where he was hunting down a can or three of beef stock.

She turned her head the full ninety degrees to regard him, one eyebrow raised. "'Geal, you have seen me handle a huge-butt _sword_. And you're worrying about me with a kitchen knife."

"And how well I remember that day of fiascos," he muttered to himself. "Yes, but I can never be too careful, trust me."

"That day wasn't a total disaster, come on," she scoffed. "We kicked Wutai butt!" She then realized that she probably shouldn't have been able to hear his first comment, and apparently he thought so too. So she shrugged. "Prenatal mako treatments will do this to you. I don't mind it, personally." He just sighed and turned away resignedly.

"Fill this only about an inch up with water," he instructed her, handing her a large, heavy pot one-handedly.

"Tap?" She wrinkled her nose slightly.

"There's nothing else." He shrugged his wide shoulders.

"Hmm. Okay." She took the pot with one hand and had a sudden stroke of inspiration. "Aha! Wait! There _is _another option!" She all but threw the pot back onto the counter and dashed for her backpack, almost sliding into the wall with her socks on the hardwood floor. Grabbing the canteen of water from the spring in Aerith's church, she held it up to Angeal. "See?" she grinned. "It's, like, purified or something! There's this little random water source in the church, and it's perfectly fine—practically magic, even. No city crap or anything."

He looked at her doubtfully. "And I'm to take this as completely trustworthy," he said dryly.

She made an overkilled serious face. "No, it's actually spiked with a rare toxin found only in the pancreas of a king behemoth. I'm trying to poison the two commanders, two random Thirds, my boyfriend, _and _the last surviving Cetra, all in one sweep. Multi-kill!" She threw her hands in the air in mock victory.

He blinked at her for a second, then spluttered and began to laugh deeply.

"Wha-at!" she exclaimed. "Hey, that was all improv, but it wasn't supposed to be _that _funny!"

"Oh, you kill me sometimes," he chuckled heartily.

"Well, no, actually, that's kind of not the idea—"

"Just—just do whatever. Go ahead." He waved a hand dismissively, wiping at one eye as he leaned against the counter.

So she emptied the contents of her canteen into the pot and handed the massive thing over to Angeal, who plonked it onto the lit stove and a few minutes later started throwing all sorts of things into it that made the entire apartment smell amazing.

"Oh my gods, that smells delicious." Three heads in varying shades of brown to black peered around the corner slowly. Max's mouth was hanging open slightly and Shane was smiling dreamily.

"Thank you for your help, Diana," Angeal smiled. "C'mere, Pup, I want to ask you a couple things."

"Only if I can ask you why you're not wearing your birthday present!" Zack beamed widely, sending his mentor a knowing look.

"…My what? …Oh. That. Yes, well—" He looked to be visibly restraining himself from scowling as Zack continued to smile at him with some degree of insanity.

"Er, Zack…" Diana picked up a wad of material and strings that she had tossed aside earlier in favor of having access to a cupboard full of spices, and shook it out. "Would you by any chance be talking about—?"

"YES! That's it!" He yelped happily, whizzing over to her, where she was holding it up to herself doubtfully. The material had turned out to be an apron bearing a message.

Diana refrained from snorting loudly at the expression on Angeal's face. "Really? _Kiss the cook_? I'm sure he was just thrilled—"

"Yes please," Zack interrupted her upon having a sudden thought, grinning madly, and leaned over to kiss her lightly.

"AGH! MY EYES!" Max bellowed, staggering back several steps into Shane, who did likewise and fell over dramatically, twitching on the floor.

"Oh, shush," Diana scoffed, leaning out around Zack. "Like you haven't seen worse!"

"Scars will be left upon my retinas…" Shane continued to moan.

Diana rolled her own eyes and swept out of the kitchen, dragging the two with her. "Come on, you silly miscreants." And the three left Zack with his mentor.

"Wonder what they're talking about?" Max whispered loudly, edging towards the door until Diana got in his way.

"Nuh-uh," she declared, pulling the door to the kitchen shut firmly. "It's probably legit serious and all that."

"Hmph. Party pooper."

"Now what?" Shane complained. "I wanna do something— _what the hell was that? !"_

He was glaring at his counterpart, who looked back at his friend sheepishly from where he had been staring at the ceiling in dismay. "Er. Oops?" he laughed weakly.

Diana looked up warily. The first thing to catch her attention was a small, glowing sphere the size of a bottle cap, lodged in between two parts of the hub of the ceiling fan.

"That's my materia!" Shane fumed, not really angry with his roommate, but making quite a show of it. The tiny reddish-orange globe was indeed a fire materia of some sort.

"Relax, relax, I'll get it." Max waved a hand, shifting his position and preparing to jump.

"Don't do that, you'll impale yourself if you jump!" Diana yelped, glancing with mistrust at the immobile but no less strangely threatening device. "Or something."

"Well," Shane said with exaggerated patience, "what's he supposed to do, then? Stack up the couches and try to reach?" All three of them looked at the unusually high ceiling disgruntledly.

"No…" Diana started. "But—"

"You might have an idea there," Max muttered.

A moment later, they were all bickering again over who should be where.

"I have to be bottom, I'm the biggest!" Shane said hotly.

"All right, then Max can get on top of me! I'm stronger than I look, and he's got to get the damned thing!" Diana stated, glaring at the brunette and daring him to argue.

He bit back a retort that was relevant to the argument in favor of an evil smile and an innuendo. "I thought that was Zack's job. Wouldn't wanna make him jealous, now."

She swore fluently. "Does every living being feel the need to make comments?" she very nearly shrieked. "I don't see you getting on Cloud's case!"

"That's 'cause he's not as gutsy as Zack," Shane said bluntly.

She really had nothing to say to that.

"Well, how much do you weigh? If you're that much lighter, then—" Max broke off at his dark-haired friend's frantic motioning that clearly illustrated his advice. "Oh, jeez! I didn't—uh—I mean—"

"No problem, I'm the same as my twin. One fifty-six, at your service." She waved a hand carelessly as the two men gawked at her. "Never mind that! Now do you want middle or top?" she directed at Max, hoping fervently that he wouldn't feel the need to crack another joke.

He didn't. "I'm taking middle, end of discussion. Let's go." And he stood on the couch to clamber onto Shane's shoulders.

**-Several minutes and several loud noises later-**

"Don't be careless, Zack," Angeal said gravely, moving towards the door to open it to the younger occupants of the apartment again. "Remember all that." He turned to what he had assumed would be three young adults sprawled out on the couches, their stomachs growling. However, the sight that met his eyes was on another plane entirely—quite literally.

"Right—left! NO, FORWARD!" a directionally confused Max was yelling.

"Not _forward_, you moron, can't you see where he's stepping? !" Diana shrieked, looking down in alarm.

"OW! Max, I go left and it'll get uncomfortable for everyone fast!" Shane yelped, nearly tripping over the coffee table and regarding the nearby shelves apprehensively.

"If this damn thing decapitates me, I'm holding you personally responsible! HOLD STILL!"

"But I'm still all itch—"

"I don't care _what _part of you itches this time no matter what body part it is; stop fidgeting! This was your fault in the first place!" Diana roared, now making wild swipes at the ceiling fan in an effort to dislodge the unfortunate materia. Dust motes floated down around her lazily and Zack's undiagnosed ADHD kicked in as he watched the trio's antics, mouth slightly open as he followed the progress of the tiny dust molecules in fascination.

"Would you two just hurry _up _up there, my poor SOLDIER body can only take so much, you know—"

"Ahh…ahhhh…."

"GOT IT!" Diana shouted, holding the glowing sphere up in triumph, her hand barely clearing the ceiling.

"AHHHHHHHH…"

Shane couldn't see what was going on above him at all, but his eyes widened to the size of the plates in Angeal's hands because he knew what was coming. "Crap! Down, down, down!" he panicked, yelling like a drill sergeant.

Unfortunately, Max was in no fit state to obey this order, and Diana couldn't tell what he was barking about. She looked down carefully in confusion, trying not to toggle the human tower, but Max did plenty to compensate for her caution.

"AHHHHHHHHHH-_PSCHOOO_!" It was more like a foghorn that detonated a box of explosives, rather than a dust-induced sneeze.

Max's upper body lurched forward violently, and he probably would have staggered back several steps had he been standing. However, this was not the case, and the action therefore had considerably more interesting results.

Shane was the one to backpedal rapidly instead, yelping in distress as he crashed into the couch. He successfully flipped it over with his friend still on his shoulders, sending the brunette tumbling head over heels backwards.

Diana escaped being smashed into the wall, as the laws of physics would have dictated had Max's shoulders not been what she was resting on. So she by contrast was launched forward off the uppermost point of the stack, somehow managing to catapult straight into Zack. Angeal had been wise enough to get out of the way, and watched as his apprentice was knocked back several feet and was tackled to the ground.

There was mildly pained groaning all around as Genesis and Aerith emerged from the back room, looking more than slightly dazed and confused.

"Sorry," Diana apologized, pushing herself off of Zack.

"You know, this is getting kinda old…" he groaned, but chuckled nonetheless.

"Admit it, I just knock you off your feet," she quipped, clearly intending to convey sarcasm and not meaning for the statement to be taken seriously. At least, it was clear to her.

"That you do," Angeal chose to put in under his breath, earning him a sheepish grin from his Puppy and an odd expression bordering between embarrassment and amusement from Diana.

* * *

Dinner in the apartment was an amusing affair, to say the least.

Shane was shooting furtive looks at Max so often that he appeared to have a twitch, apparently convinced that his friend was going to pickpocket him of his materia again. And no one wanted a repeat incident; of that they could all be sure.

Genesis had begun flirting shamelessly with Aerith, who looked positively terrified at the prospect but laughed along with the commander anyway. After a while, Diana noticed that they actually seemed to be enjoying each other's presence. Zack accused her of matchmaking, a charge which she artfully ignored.

And speaking of which, said Puppy kept repeatedly engaging in a teasing game of footsie with Diana under the round table that could _not _be as easily ignored. This was amusing enough until he eventually overshot and got Genesis by mistake, which prompted some choice comments intended to enlighten everyone but in truth only made matters worse.

Angeal ate his soup in silence, appreciating it and telling himself that he would _not _laugh outright at these ludicrous antics, and that he was the eldest and therefore must have _some _sense of responsibility. That is, until he came into a side conversation, only to witness the less sensible half of the exchange. It involved pants of some variety (the owner or owners were conveniently left out), what sounded like a mysteriously animated desert cactus, and what he assumed to be copious amounts of alcohol. Somehow this was all connected to the time Zack had innocently wandered into a convenience store in Wutai and ended up racing shopping carts down the baking aisle until Genesis was forced to come to his rescue. Angeal just had to snicker at that. But otherwise he was quite determined in his efforts to keep a straight face.

Yes, it was strange. But the soup was exceptionally good and they were together, which was all that really mattered.

**A/N: *Cackles madly* See the stuff I get these people into? It's like the more interesting events of my life all rolled together and put on steroids ^^ I hope you enjoyed that little spiel of madness and that it made your day better. Congratulations to anyone who can guess what important thing went on in the midst of all this and/or will be caused by something that went on in this chapter! Guesses are quite welcome and always nice. Until next time! :)**


	43. Mendaciloquiorum

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: *bursts out into Three Days Grace song* PAAAAAIN! without updates! PAAAAAIN! still don't have ownership! PAAAAAIN! my fingers are dead, 'cause I've been figuring out this song on the guitar...! !**

**A/N: It's been almost four weeks? ! *wails* I'm sorry! The only excuse I can give you is school -_- wow that's lame. Hey, but, we all get it, right? (That and the fact that I usually have about three chapters ahead of posting written, but I recently ran out and stayed up waaaay late on the weekends and ended up writing like another twenty pages. So I should be good for a while now :) ) Well, I'll just say that this chapter is male-dominated and heavy on the banter (totally typed banger the first time o_O) and that NOTE: I will be referring to Diana as Devon (he, his, etc.) for the entirety of the chapter. I'm just experimenting with the mind games, lies, and twists as we're starting to build up to something big. So it really is as if an outsider is watching what's going on during this chapter. Sorry again for the delay and enjoy!**

**Sarah: **Yes, Genesis got his help :) hooray, no psychos running around developing wings and hurling fireballs at the nearest passerby! Yeah, this was one of those interludes where we're reminded that normal life goes on. There's another one of those coming up, but it may well be the last before the freakout begins. . . *cue ominous music* Oh and btw, any guesses as to what else helped Genesis, besides the healing? I wanted to know if anyone picked up on it. (hint: read carefully what Diana does in the kitchen.) Thanks for reviewing! **Shadow: **Hmmm *mysterious face* that's the question, now isn't it? Yay for laughing otherwise! :D Thanks! **Shatter:** Aw :( burns are no fun. Fire materia accident? XP lol. But thank you :) And hehe, I don't know about the Genesis/Aerith thing...I could imply it, have a little fun. We'll see. And omg I know right? Some great lines came out of this one XD Well, Angeal _is _the smart one (at least, I think he is - seems like he would be) but I kind ahad the feeling that he was talking to Zack about how his friend and his girlfriend are quite possibly in mortal danger and...well, we may never know o_- Haha I ate a cookie earlier today! :D lol wow I'm tired. Hahaha thanks for the review! **Sayonara: **Hahahaha so true, thanks! ^^ unstoppable laughter is usually what I'm going for. It's part of what helps me to maintain a healthy level of insanity X) Thank you, enjoy!

**Chapter 43: Mendaciloquiorum**

**Friday, 23 August, 0935 hours**

"Looking good, _sir_," 'Devon' grinned, sweeping into a mocking bow as he proceeded down the hallway towards his First Class friend. It was a lie, incidentally. Zack looked one heck of a lot better than just _good _in his jeans and a white button-down with the sleeves pushed up.

Zack stopped mid-step, aghast, and pointed dramatically at his short friend. "Who are you and what have you done with Dev?" he hollered.

Cloud gave Zack an intense stare from beside the other Third. "The aliens have abducted the short one and the blonde one. We have been deployed here to observe your ways for the ultimate purpose of stealing the secret to microwaveable dinners."

"Heeeey! 'The short one'?" Devon protested. "Watch it, Spiky, or I'll sic a pack of female chocobos on you during mating season."

Zack cackled evilly, approaching his friends and shoving his hands into his pockets. It was near-painful to not have his sword with him, as it was usually at all times, but it was a blissfully uniform-free "casual Friday" and all the staff members and the First Classes at Shinra were dressed in "civilian clothing" for once. At least, that was supposed to be the idea, from what the books said. But everyone knew that everything was up for interpretation, and that things were mostly guidelines anyway. Especially where the liberties of SOLDIERs were involved. Personally, Zack just usually took the opportunity to torment Sephiroth with comments about how he should maybe try a color other than black, even if he did have good taste in suits, and pester the General by asking him if he had ever so much as put on a pair of jeans. "I'd be up for seeing _that _happen," he quipped, then pouted. "I feel ridiculous—I don't have my sword, and I want it back only there's nowhere to put it…"

"Don't worry, you always look ridiculous," Cloud said consoling with a completely straight face. His friends both envied him for that at the moment—neither had ever quite mastered that ability, and if they had, it only ever lasted a second before they caved. Devon made a mental note not to ever let himself be captured and interrogated by anybody, because it would just be so easy to get answers from him that it should be illegal.

"I feel so much better," Zack said dryly. "Hey, wanna see the Dynamic Trio in all their schmanciness? It's awesome," he switched topics rapidly, childlike. "I get to tool on 'Sephy' and he can't hurt me because he doesn't have Masamune on him!"

Devon and Cloud shrugged simultaneously. "Sounds good to me," the brunette agreed. "Agh!" He suddenly yelped and fidgeted, his hand flying to his pocket. "Gets me every time," he muttered. "Hang on—I'm getting a call." He dug in the pocket of his pants and pulled out his buzzing PHS. "Loveless."

"_Which one_?" came an amused voice from the other end.

Devon made a face into the phone. "It's me, Commander Hewley. As you full well know, saving your presence."

"_I just like to make sure_."

Cloud watched his friend stick his tongue out at his cellular device and sniggered quietly. Zack began making faces at Devon, knowing that his friend got so absorbed while on the phone that he was completely oblivious to everything around him at the time; sights, sounds, everything. And that was a well-tested and sufficiently proven fact.

"Whatever, sir. You needed something?"

"_Yes, I need my Puppy back. I'm assuming he's somewhere near you, and he has a mountain of paperwork for him here. Not to mention I'd like to speak with him as to the events leading up to the bag of frozen shit that I located in the icebox this morning_," the First explained delicately. He still sounded completely articulate and composed, which was perhaps what caused the eavesdropping Zack to freeze, blanch, and shake his head furiously, motioning with the universal decapitation gesture.

Devon's grin widened evilly. "Why, sure, Commander, I'll get him back there to you. Expect us in a few minutes. This could get ugly." And with that he hung up and advanced on Zack, who whimpered and attempted to flee. And, well…that didn't work out quite as well as he had planned.

* * *

"Really, Zack, crap in the fridge…I'd think you were more creative than that," Devon remarked conversationally, half-dragging a headlocked Zack down the hallway. The First would have escaped ages ago, but unfortunately for him, Devon had discovered that he was extremely ticklish. Cloud prowled along behind the two, ready to poke Zack in the sides if he tried to get loose. It had happened once and Zack had dropped like a stone, rolling on the ground in hysterics for a full minute. It was unlikely that that would be necessary again, and besides, Devon was strong.

"I _swear _it was—" he began to protest loudly, but they had reached the door to Angeal's office. Several employees in jeans gave them odd looks, but most rolled their eyes and continued on their way when they saw who exactly the culprits were. Ignoring them, Cloud raised a hand to knock when an irate Angeal filled the doorway instead. Devon quickly released Zack as the larger First pointed into the office sternly, and Zack scurried inside like a scolded puppy. Which, honestly, he pretty much was.

The two Thirds followed, chuckling. "You'd think he wouldn't freak out like this," Devon murmured, casting a wary glance at Angeal.

"I get the feeling it's not the first occurrence. Or that of something similar," Cloud whispered back, pushing the door shut gingerly.

"Zachary—" Angeal began in a low, dangerous voice as soon as the door was closed.

"I swear it's chocolate!" Zack hollered at an unnaturally loud volume that took Devon and Cloud by surprise. Devon actually staggered backwards into the door, causing a few of the secretaries in the hall beyond to wince sympathetically at the unseen but no less solid-sounding impact.

Angeal opened his mouth to roar something, not taking notice of his apprentice, but then he paused as the words took on a meaning. "What do you mean, chocolate?" he inquired cautiously.

"I mean I melted chocolate and made it look like shit and stuck it in the freezer, whaddaya think?" Zack scoffed, temporarily forgetting that he was in mortal peril.

Angeal leveled his glare again. "You mean to tell me that _this_—" he reached behind him and pulled a plastic bag from his desktop— "is _chocolate_?"

"It's a _prank_, Angeal, come on!" Zack whined, fidgeting. "Of course it's chocolate! Do you smell it? No!"

"Frozen things lose their smell even to us mako-infused beings, o intelligent one," Cloud muttered under his breath, and was about to embellish on his feelings when he was interrupted by yet another arrival.

"Angeal. Have you caught your apprentice yet—? Ah, but I see that you have." The Great General Sephiroth stood in the doorway, having entered silently and rather eerily. Everyone but Angeal jumped visibly, and Cloud looked undeniably star-struck while Zack looked like he was about ready to execute an extreme evasive maneuver. But perhaps the strangest thing was that the General was not clad in the usual strange arrangements of black leather that he called clothing. Instead, he had donned black pants (surprisingly not leather) and a recently ironed white shirt and tie. To be honest, it was downright discombobulating, even if he did look good. Almost ordinarily unassuming, even. Almost.

"Actually, Seph, it was these two." Angeal was one of exactly two people on all of Gaia who could call him that and not be turned into a human shish-kabob; or just threatened, if the General was in a good mood. Angeal nodded at the blonde and the short brunette, who were about to snap to attention when Sephiroth waved them off.

"No need. You have my gratitude at the moment, Strife, Loveless. You have saved me from having to chase down an overexcited, hyperactive Puppy all over the grounds of Shinra."

Cloud looked ready to pass out at that, but he hid it well, mostly. Devon ignored his friend's mild hero worship complex and replied steadily, "It was no problem, sir. We know how to handle a Puppy." He grinned impudently at a disgruntled Zachary, who crossed his arms tightly and pouted, muttering about traitors.

"Well, now that that's taken care of." Angeal smiled calmly at his sulking apprentice. "I would thank you, Zachary, to clean up the Cheese Whiz in the bathroom."

Zack's head snapped up and his mouth popped open. He spluttered incoherently for a second before growling in defeat and stalking off, grumbling again and seeming to carry his own personal raincloud above his head.

"Gaia only knows how you two manage to handle him on a daily basis," Angeal sighed, plonking down in his office chair and glaring at a large stack of files. "Gaia only knows how_ I_ managed it."

"Have you considered electric fences?" Devon wanted to know, taking a leaf out of the mental book of notable things that Tifa had said to 'him' in the past. Sephiroth might have cracked a very small smile at that, but that was debatable.

"So have you been enjoying your SOLDIER days?" the General inquired casually, taking a seat next to his friend's dark wooden desk.

The two Thirds both responded with enthusiastic agreements, doing a lot of nodding.

"Good to hear. Now how long…hm. You entered SOLDIER almost exactly two months ago, I believe?"

"Yes sir, in late June," Cloud affirmed. He wondered how the General could have possibly known—or remembered—that. Groups of new recruits were coming in all the time, and he wondered, neither for the first time nor the last, if Sephiroth could read minds.

"I thought as much. My memory does usually serve me fairly well." Sephiroth shifted slightly in his chair. "You are focused on the chances of moving up to Second, then, as well?"

"I wouldn't quite say 'focused,' sir," Devon offered with actual complete honesty. "We're always trying to improve, but I know I for one haven't been preoccupied or anything with the possibility." Cloud nodded his agreement.

"Hm. Well, you must be aware that you are in the running." Sephiroth leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. Cloud wondered absently why the General was pushing the issue. "Especially with the four of you being as diversely gifted as you are."

They blinked simultaneously. Had the Silver General just called them _gifted_? "Sir?" they chorused.

"You and your roommates," Angeal explained, looking up from a form he was signing. "Think about it. Azarius has a certain affinity for materia; Genesis is even helping to train him himself. Fenning is an excellent marksman with a good eye, no matter what you put in his hand. Loveless, you're as good as the men—or women," he amended, clearly thinking of Tifa and possibly Diana, "who are _trainers _in hand-to-hand combat. And Strife, everyone knows that not a single Third can beat you with a sword. Personally, I think it'd be interesting to see you all in a higher level of competition." A smirk might have tugged at the corners of his mouth, but they couldn't be sure. "Just thoughts." He went back to his stack of papers.

Cloud recovered first. "Thank you, sir," he murmured, his ears burning. Devon bobbed his head in accordance.

"I certainly hope your current duties are not boring you, or something similar." Sephiroth spoke up again, surfacing from a pensive silence while Angeal talked.

"Definitely not," Devon said right away, shaking his head hard.

"Not at all," Cloud agreed with half a laugh, every inch the easygoing but respectful soldier.

"No recent attempts on your lives, then, I assume?" They couldn't tell if the General was joking or not—then again, it was difficult to discern much as far as his emotions were concerned unless your name was Genesis Rhapsodos or Angeal Hewley.

"No, sir," they both smiled tentatively.

"I should be satisfied and somewhat relieved—but you lie, Loveless." Sephiroth gave them a lazy beginning of a smile. "An unintentional lie, granted," he raised a hand and extended a long index finger as Devon frowned slightly in confusion, "and therefore forgivable. Under the power of mechanical lie detection, there would be no difference, of course, because the subconscious would believe that the individual was telling the truth. That is, incidentally, the way that most agents find ways around technology. One may build up a persona or scenario so thoroughly that one may learn to alter the subconscious's perception of what is reality and what is not. But that is another study." He fixed Devon in place with frost-green mako eyes. "I would have accepted your answer if I had not happened to know that two days ago, you returned to your dormitory in the late afternoon considerably injured, having been attacked by strange monsters while on a simple mission."

Devon took in a sharp breath of air. "I was unaware that you knew, sir. I don't know what exactly happened, myself," he said, somewhat stiffly.

"Mm." _No need to look so mortified_, he thought dryly, but didn't say it out loud and instead made an effort to clarify that the younger man wasn't in trouble or anything of the sort. "Do not make the mistake in thinking I am not deeply disturbed by the fact that a SOLDIER like you was harmed by what seemed to be only monsters. Those were no ordinary slum-dwelling monsters, I know. No doubt the entire affair is a source of confusion for you as well. But what I do know through Angeal, through Zachary," Sephiroth nodded at the door through which Zack had exited, "is that there seems to be a certain…group…bent on your destruction. I can only advise you to be cautious—"

With a sudden and complete disregard for caution, Devon broke in and whirled on Angeal. "You promised my sister that no one had to know!" he hissed.

The SOLDIER looked up calmly and raised an eyebrow. "I did not 'promise' anything," he pointed out, "And it was a complete accident that anyone else found out in the first place."

The youth opened his mouth to give a retort, but the General cut him off this time. "Don't get yourself all worked up, Loveless. I see no reason to panic, just as I have no need to even let on that I have the slightest inkling of any strange going-ons." The boy gaped for a good two seconds. "What," Sephiroth continued with a very small smirk, "the Silver General can't have secrets of his own?"

"But," Cloud half-spluttered, coming back into the conversation, "don't you have a—an obligation? Or—an oath in blood, or something—?"

Sephiroth chuckled dryly. "Far from it, Strife. Far from it. But I digress. We are back to the original point: organized attempts have in fact been made on your life recently."

"I suppose that would be correct, sir," Devon allowed grudgingly.

"Do you feel that you and your sister are in the same degree of danger?"

"They want us both dead, sir, so I'm guessing yes. And they nearly got her, too," he remembered, his mouth tightening.

"Then would you consider it a wise move to plant some…operatives…to make sure that she stays out of harm's way for the time being?" the General wanted to know.

"Honestly? Not at all," Devon said matter-of-factly. "Sir, I don't know whether you've met my sister…"

"I have, on multiple occasions."

"…Well, she's nearly as good as I am in combat." _Don't make it sound too extreme, or you'll plant ideas and theories in their heads, and Gaia only knows where that could lead_, the Third Class cautioned himself. "Odds are, she'd kill anyone she found tailing her. And she _would _find them. The two of us just can't afford to take chances; not now."

"Ah. I see. I understand what you two must be going through. It must be difficult," he murmured, his eyes almost out of focus. It was like he was putting something together; only it didn't seem like there was anything to piece together at the moment. Cloud wondered about the mind-reading again. "…Quite difficult. Tell me, Loveless…" The hairs on the back of Devon's neck stood up at the eerie memory of similar words. "…What _does _your sister do with her time? I would say that she should consider a career with the Turks, but somehow," he smirked, "I don't think that the idea of engaging in shady, ethically questionable operations would be quite her idea of a career."

"True, sir," Devon shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. I think she spends a lot of time in the slums, getting to know the people and helping them out. She's saved us from having to send out a lot of extra monster patrol missions; she has the skills."

"Really?" the General looked interested. "Were you both trained in your hometown, or…?"

"No—well, a little," he amended. Devon noticed out of the corner of his eye that Cloud had slipped away from the increasingly private conversation to ask Angeal a few questions about the papers he was handling. "Mostly just since we left home."

"_Really_." Both eyebrows went up this time, if just barely. "The two of you really are very gifted in certain areas, if I do say so myself."

The boy's cheekbones flushed very slightly. "Thank you, sir. We try."

"I keep saying that I'd love to have the both of you in SOLDIER," Angeal declared without looking up from the document that he was explaining to a very absorbed Cloud. "But alas, the laws of ShinRa stand in the way of that," he sighed.

Devon's conscience was shrieking, but he ignored it and shrugged passively. "I know she for one resents that," he said carefully. "Although think of the problems that would cause—a woman in SOLDIER," he mused, with just enough skepticism in those gray eyes to be innocent.

"That'd cause problems for Zack, for one thing," Cloud muttered under his breath, clearly forgetting that for one, everyone could hear him, and also that they were both treading dangerous ground here.

"Why is that?" Sephiroth inquired innocently.

Angeal smiled conspiratorially, finally looking up. "Come on, Seph. You must know by now that Diana Loveless and my Puppy are together."

"Yes, and how wonderfully awkward that is for me," Devon snorted quietly. "Not that I mind, of course," he rushed on, "but hello, you ever walked in on your sister and one of your best friends? Ever consider that _we're nearly i-den-ti-cal_?" He was on a good, believable, righteous rant now. "Oh, it's all right for _her_, getting mistaken for me from behind. But do _I_ want to be confused with a woman? No! And don't even bring up the hair-cutting issue, because I'll hear none of it!" He finished stubbornly, folding his arms tightly across his chest and glaring around.

Angeal snickered. Just barely, but it was there. Cloud flapped a hand. "Ah, don't worry," he grinned evilly, "once they're married and all no one will make the mistake again, and—"

"_Wha-at_?" he nearly yelled. He looked around. "Sorry, sirs, but, uh…" He whirled back on the blonde. "Who said anything about them getting _married_? !" Angeal was now shaking violently with suppressed laughter. Even the General was hiding a smile behind one hand.

"You'll thank me for warning you early on when there are little Zacklets running around!" Cloud knew he had just crossed a boundary. To everyone else, it looked like the protective-older-brother boundary. To Cloud and 'Devon,' well…it was a tad different. The blonde ran for the hills—or, rather, the halls.

"Get back here!" Devon roared after him, eyes now a much stonier, more lethal gray and snapping like stormclouds. "I'll—er, Commander, General—" he flicked a quick salute, "—please excuse us._ I'll follow through on that chocobo herd threat! And worse! You just watch!_" He pelted out the door, nearly bowling over a couple of secretaries, who just shook their heads once they had recovered from the initial mild shock. There really was no other way to react to the antics of SOLDIERs these days.

**A/N: Hehehehe, Zacklets...lol. What about mini-Clouds? Chocobos! XD Heh. Well, anyway, hope you enjoyed despite the slight lull in action. Oh and btw, the chapter title isn't gibberish lol. It means literally "of spoken lies" in Latin. (At least it should. I'm pretty good with the grammar stuff.) Review please, and thanks for reading! :)**


	44. The Key To Distraction

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: *runs in circles yelling* INEVERCLAIMEDANYTHING-exceptZackbutthat'sinmyheadsoitdoesn'tcountXD-DONTARRESTMEPLEASE!**

**A/N: I think it's a sign that run4life is ready to go to bed and sleep before facing another day of hell I mean school when I look at what I just typed - you know, 'cause if you have a typo in a string of connected words it can get awkward really fast - and misreads it. In a really funny way, granted, but I don't think that's an excuse for reading something that I literally just typed out and misreading "except Zack but that's in my head" (hehehehehe) for "except Zack butt hat's in my head" o_O I sound like my immature friends of the male persuasion... But off the topic of my little mental freakouts, no matter how occasionally entertaining they might be.**

**Importantish note! I recently published a oneshot songfic ^^ my first oneshot ever except for my poem. If you want to check it out, it uses a Three Days Grace song: implied CloTi, some good hard angst, implied and not-so-implied attempted suicide, all that good stuff. I got nearly 200 hits but no reviews yet D8 so you may do so if you wish :) Thanks and I hope you go take a look at it! :D**

I don't have the time or energy, or typing abilities, clearly, to reply to everybody, but I'll do a little general reply right here. I was gone for a little bit because I'm still catching up on writing ahead of my posting, and because track started last week :DDDD But YES so many theories! **Sarah **you're right about the water from the church, nice job :) thank god someone got that. YES I think I will be including that chocobo threat at some point...muahaha... And Zacklets=love xD Hooray for extreme fangirling moments! And ummm hello**, FOUR NEW REVIEWERS :DDDDD THANKS TO: LoreilDarksky00, sweetyjg, evilly-innocent, and xCarryOnDancingx for reviewing for the first time! **Or in the case of Loreil, because the button didn't work before...o.O So I appreciate your first-time commenting, or catching up of reading all these ridiculous words as the case may be! I definitely know what that's like so YOU'RE AWESOME ^^ I'll try to update soon for all you guys, I just wanted to get this one out before I go away for the weekend (April Fools' Day shall also be hysterical...you wouldn't believe the crap we have planned for all these various teachers...) and then I'll be gone again on April break a couple weeks later, so I'll try to get one in before then, or maybe after :/ like I said, still a little behind. But I'll try, and my notebooks will be coming on the planes with me! :D So thanks guys, you're fabulous, and enjoy this one! :)

**Chapter 44: The Key To Distraction**

**The same day, 1834 hours**

"And then—it gets better—and then he starts with the insinuations of _marriage_!" Diana fumed, her voice slightly muffled by a pillow on Tifa's couch. "And the _Zacklets_! I thought Angeal was gonna piss his pants just _sitting _there the whole time, too, and—_what do you want_?" she roared at her phone, which had begun buzzing and she swore shrank away from her. It didn't matter that Tifa was in the next room and could hardly hear her friend rant about her grievances over the running of the water in the sink and the whir of the ceiling fan. Diana was venting out about her preoccupations, something that had become a necessity quite often, and at least the furniture was listening. She growled as she flicked the phone open, snapping "Diana Loveless!" into it.

_"Whoa. Okay, I told you, I'm sorry about earlier, and I tried Teef but she didn't pick up."_

"Yeah, she's doing the dishes and I'm talking at her," she explained with just a hint of chilliness. Cloud was her friend. He was one of her best friends. And she understood that he was just teasing her. But honestly. To bring something as serious as marriage and children into the taunting, that was just… She wasn't entirely sure exactly why it had made her so over-the-edge uncomfortable—her, the absolute queen of ignoring the elephant in the room—but it had, and she was still mildly put out. And besides, she hated not knowing why things bothered her, which didn't help. But then there was the feeling that she didn't even _want _to know why she was so peeved.

_"Oh, okay then. Mind if—"_

_"Can we come crash? !" _interrupted another voice from Cloud's end of the line. Diana didn't know whether to laugh dryly or to roll her eyes.

"Sure, why not," she replied, her voice just a bit more clipped than she'd intended and enough to be noticeable.

_"Okay. Be there in a few."_ Cloud hung up first.

Diana sighed and tossed her phone back onto the coffee table. She leaned back and flopped one arm across her eyes. _Crap. That didn't sound particularly nice…why's it been such a weird day—? No, stop it_, she scolded herself, kicking a heel in frustration. _Stop passing off your bad turns as life's complications getting to you. You chose this. 'Yeah, well, I'll be done with most of the crap soon enough,'_ another voice thought back defiantly. _And we'll just see how fantastically that goes_, the first voice retorted scathingly. _'...Great. Now I'm having arguments with myself.'_

"It's fine for them to come over," Tifa informed her friend, walking over and taking a seat next to her friend before taking a completely different conversational angle that still wasn't altogether unexpected. "So, you don't think Angeal's onto you, then, is he?"

Diana shrugged. "Doubt it. He doesn't see enough of me. And I'm always super-careful, 'cause he's super-smart." She made a face. "I am so _done _with this," she muttered.

"Then why don't you quit with the hiding?" Tifa's outburst was sudden. "I mean—honestly, I for one know you're half-insane inside your own head by now. Just _end _it, why don't you?" She pressed her lips tightly together, her brows furrowed.

The brunette sighed, refusing to get angry with another friend. It took some convincing of the uncooperative part of her brain. "I want to. I have to wait for, I don't know. The opportune moment?"

Tifa rolled her eyes. "You wait for that and it'll be years."

"Yeah, if I even make it that long alive and marginally sane," Diana snorted.

"But that's my point! Don't you want to end this?" Tifa demanded, smacking a hand down on the couch forcefully.

"Of course I do! I'd just rather not get beheaded in the process!" Diana said in indignation. "Let alone drag anyone else into it when I have to stick my neck out! Why else do you think I told everyone who knows to lie if you're questioned?"

Tifa pursed her lips. "Well, yes, I do see that. Even if I don't entirely approve. What I don't see is your plan of action."

"I gave you the basics—"

"But not how you'll actually do it. I want to know your strategy, down to the details," she claimed fiercely.

"All right, fine." Diana exhaled out over her teeth. "The timeframe idea was: Zack first, then Genesis and Angeal. You know why. Then to Lazard. He's in charge of SOLDIER, after all. I figure I'll just go in there—backup or no backup—and tell him that his company has been deceived and who I really am, and that he should consider all the things I've done and what I've put myself through before deciding what to do with me. That's the plan, variables accounted for." She crossed her arms, sticking out her chin stubbornly.

Tifa sighed, deflating unexpectedly and taking her friend off guard. "I just worry. You know that. I…I don't…"

"Want to see anyone beheaded," Diana supplied dryly.

"Well, yes, that," Tifa gave half a laugh. "But, er—don't you think, just maybe, you should give Zack a heads-up ahead of time? I mean…" She left it open-ended.

Diana groaned. "That's the question, isn't it? There's just the little problem that I have no freaking clue how he'll react! And that's what half of it all balances on!"

"Well," Tifa raised a hand with all five fingers up. "He could freak out and hate you for all eternity and bring it straight to Lazard in an attempt to really doom you." She put down a finger. "He could have a mental breakdown and end up in the loony bin. Unlikely, but possible." She put down another finger. "He could be shocked but go along with it, and help you for the moment and worry about forgiving you later." She put down a third finger. "Or he could love you anyway and support you all the way." She put down her middle finger, leaving her index standing alone. "And there's the last variant. The unanticipated. But whichever way…don't you think you owe him?" she asked quietly.

Diana ducked her head in shame. _I'll make it up to him until then. Ahead of time. I have to, and…I want to. He deserves that._ Her next thought was interrupted by the door. By reflex, she was about to shout at another inanimate object, when she recognized the two spiky heads that appeared.

Tifa let her friend fly to the door before her. Diana first glomped Cloud, muttering a string of apologies at him until he disentangled himself to laugh and wave her off.

"Never mind, never mind," he chuckled. "My bad for provoking you in the first place."

Zack blinked behind him. "Provoking? And hey! What about me—forgotten?" he complained.

She tackled him in a hug, sighing in satisfaction as his arms closed around her. "I can never forget you," she murmured.

"Mm. Of course not." He looked over her head at Cloud, who still had the remains of a mischievous smile on his face as he remembered the jokes of the morning. "Should I know what exactly was provoking you?" He raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Nope," Diana said quickly, squeezing him tightly. "Not at all. Nothing to worry about whatsoever," she laughed nervously.

The four spent a full twenty-four minutes sitting on the couch and talking about meaningless things just to fill up the time, having nothing else to care about. There were no strange affairs to stress over, no mysteries to ponder and unravel, and no secrets to keep, for once.

_And…_ Tifa looked around and smiled down at her knees, _it's nice. Never mind that there's a world out there. Forget that we all have burdens to bear, every day. Maybe once in a while, all we need is to let go of everything that's weighing us down, and let it sink without us. If there's no reason to keep stubbornly hanging onto those heavy chains of encumbrances, then we can let them go for a little while._

_The only problem is finding a key that can render the locks of those chains useless. They go by all the time, buoyant little flags of hope, but we either go blind or choose to look the other way when they do. It isn't so difficult to find one that will work—one kind fits many, many kinds fit one—but rather giving in to stopping and giving up on lugging our chains around. If it's such a burden, why are we so reluctant to drop them? Is it because of our human love of routine, of patterns? Or do we just fear what will come crashing down around our ears if we do take a moment to make a grab for a way to crack the locks?_

_Yes, it's true that one kind fits many; many kinds fit one. They work—but the locks are not fickle. Just because an effect is achieved does not mean the puzzle has been solved. Very few keys floating around out there can do what we really want, deep down there where we don't fear the consequences or a loss of predictability. Not many can shatter those locks completely; fracture and splinter them beyond repair so that by no means can they be reformed to trap us again. They may be reshaped—but we will be ready the next time, and know where and how to look again. And some are harder to destroy than others. We may learn that quickly, or make the discovery the tedious, hard way. That journey, if nothing else, is what we find to be the most capricious._

_Maybe the chains will come rushing back up to chase us down eventually, just when we've been free of them long enough to forget that we ever shed our burdens at all, once upon a time._

_But it won't matter, not really. Because we will have brought about that shattering, followed by that blessed interlude of peace, and then maybe we'll have half a sensible head on our shoulders when we need to cast away the key and take up our burdens again. And it will be okay. Because, really…what have we got to lose?_

_

* * *

_

"I don't know, I kinda want to do something, you know?" Cloud wrinkled his nose.

"Yeah, I'm a little wound up," Diana agreed, one leg bouncing up and down and shaking the entire half of the couch.

"Guys! I have a brilliant idea!" Zack exclaimed, sitting up straight. If he had a tail, it would have been wagging furiously. "Let's go to the _bar_! It's Friday, so it's dance night! Awesome? Yes, I think yes!" he crowed in triumph.

There was a brief pause, then Tifa said slowly, "That sounds…awesome, actually. Congratulations, Porcupine—that's the best idea you've had in a while." She would have to head out to open up soon anyway.

"I've never been out dancing before," Diana murmured, slightly intimidated but excited at the same time. The idea thrilled her as the slight pang of the unknown tingled just beneath her ribcage.

"Ohhh. Oh damn," Zack grinned. "This is gonna be awesome."

"I'm sending out a mass text," Tifa declared, pulling out her PHS. "Shane, 'Maximilian,'" she giggled, "Um, Yuffie—"

Cloud snorted. "She's two years underage, and I doubt her size will convince anyone otherwise."

"Don't worry about it; I have connections." Zack's grin spread.

"And then there's the little fact that I happen to _own _the bar, and am not apt to kick her out. Who else?" Tifa tapped her chin with the open phone. "Think any more of our First Class friends would want in on the fun?" she asked Zack jokingly.

Diana began to laugh, then had a thought and snorted, which gave way to a whole series of cackles in increasing volume. Soon she was laughing uncontrollably and quite loudly, hiccupping once in a while, and she keeled over sideways onto Zack's lap.

He looked down concernedly. "Er…Di? You feeling okay?"

"Haaahaahaha, yeah, yeah, I was just—oh, Gaia—I was just imagining them—hahaha—_dancing!_ I mean—hehehehehe—I've seen those three drunk, but—but—dancing and—bahahahahahaha!"

"O-kaaaay…" Cloud's eyebrows shot up and he whistled softly.

"Hey now! I have _not _gone off the deep end!" Diana said indignantly, temporarily recovering for the most part and wagging an admonishing finger at the blonde.

"What—how'd you—"

"I know you too well."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he grumbled in disbelief.

"Here, I'll text Genesis—" Diana pulled out her PHS— "and ask him if he isn't too busy. He can drag Angeal along if he feels like it, which I doubt he'll succeed in doing…what," she stated flatly. Tifa was giving her a Look.

The dark-haired girl grinned openly. "Well, if we're going out, that means you get the pleasure of trusting my taste in clothing again…"

_Why do I suddenly not like where this is going?_ Diana thought in mild despair.

"Which means you're getting forced into a skirt again, whether you like it or not!" Tifa declared with finality, grabbing her best friend's hand and dragging her off the couch.

Zack gave Diana a very Zack-like grin. "Yes, please," he agreed.

"Respond to anyone who replies back, Cloud, thanks!" Tifa managed to peck Cloud on the cheek before hauling Diana away, who just sighed and went with it.

* * *

"Okay, now, Teef, let's be logical." Whether Diana was holding up her hands out of conversational habit or in defense, she wasn't quite sure. "Tending a bar in a skirt is one thing. And you know that while I'm not a huge fan, I can deal with non-pants-ish things when I feel like it. But dancing? Moving around in unnatural ways? Nuh-uh. Not good," she said reasonably.

Tifa pursed her lips and cocked her head to the side. "Hm. Well, I suppose when you think about everything that you'll end up doing… Well, I'll figure something out."

_End—up—doing?_ "Either way, you mind if I shower? I feel...contaminated...and man-like." Diana shook out her limbs and did a little awkward dance in place.

Her friend laughed. "Go right ahead. You could probably use it."

* * *

As soon as the showerhead came to life, effectively masking a conversation kept to the right level of noise, Cloud leaned over to Zack.

"All right, what did you mean, "I have connections"?" Cloud asked in a low voice; not the special SOLDIER-only volume, but quiet enough not to be overheard.

"Things happen—and you make friends—when you're a bored SOLDIER-in-training that's not old enough to drink, Cloud," Zack sighed casually, with a joking but no less irritating hint of superiority. "Well. Legally, that is."

"Yeah, and between that and the occasional visit to Wall Market—" Cloud wrinkled his nose and rolled his eyes in slight disapproval.

"Ah, shush." Zack waved a hand absently. "Those days are gone, my friend. Long gone. And I've been fully legal for years, so what's the difference?" he asked merrily, then shook his head at the look on his friend's face. "_Very _gone."

"I should hope so," Cloud muttered.

"I like things this way a lot better. Trust me." Zack sobered rapidly.

"Uh-huh. Only thing I'd like to know is, how long is that going to last?" the blonde asked quietly. It wasn't that Cloud didn't trust his best friend to hold up his end of the deal: the deal of being in love. And it wasn't that he didn't trust Diana to see through anything that wasn't being upheld. She had proven herself able to do just that already; even if it had been a misunderstanding. It was just that there seemed to be too many "if" factors. And that was something that no one gained much from.

"You know, Cloud…I'm not all that different from you," Zack said pensively. Cloud blinked. "And since that's true…I'd say I'm—we're—in this for a very long time. And that sounds like a great plan to me."

* * *

"Teeeeeef…!" Diana's voice came out of the back room half an hour later. "Okay, I thought these looked small, but _dear Goddess!_ Sorry," she added hastily, throwing a glance skyward.

"You're just used to man clothes," Tifa insisted quietly. "Besides, for Gaia's sake, it's dance night. It's my bar, besides," she grinned, speaking at a normal volume, "so I make the rules!"

"Fine, Miss Bossypants," Diana grumbled good-naturedly, tossing her wet hair over one shoulder.

She had just finally talked Tifa out of making her wear a white shirt, declaring the garment impractical and a disaster waiting to happen, when Yuffie strolled in.

"Hey, guys!" She waved cheerily, closing the door behind them and waiting for the sounds of male conversation before she began speaking again. A wise move, and if it hadn't been Yuffie, the other two girls might have marked it as a sign of maturity. "So?" she demanded. "What genius thought of this? I wanna give 'em a hug!"

"It was Zack's idea first, who else?" Diana sighed. "And no, I will not go all "crazed-jealous-girlfriend" on Your Great Ninjaness if you go and give him a hug." She rolled her eyes.

"All right!" The younger girl punched the air. "Zaaaaaack!" She barreled out of the room, nearly bowling Cloud over in her crash course aimed at the Puppy. As the Chocobo Head backed away, he turned to a disgruntled-looking Vincent, who did not seem at all pleased to be there.

"So, er… Why are you here again?" He ruffled his hair nervously.

"I was…forced," came the laconic response. The charcoal-haired Turk was in uniform and everything, calm and cool as always.

"…By Yuffie," Cloud stated skeptically.

Silence.

"…The Great Ninja Princess Yuffie."

Silence. A breath out.

_Does he ever blink? _Cloud wondered.

_Oh. Apparently he does. Once every hour or so. And that must've been it right there... Is it a sign of anger or something? Maybe I should run... He kinda reminds me of the General..._

_

* * *

_

"Pleeeease, let's go with something dark!" Diana was fairly begging Tifa in the back room. "I can, uh, blend in more! Be inconspicuous! Go unnoticed!"

The bartender was about to give her a retort expressing her exasperation at her friend's failure to grasp the going-out-equals-purposely-getting-attention concept, but Diana's words sparked something in her memory and she gasped instead. The material in her stiff fingers slipped to the floor.

Of course. Why hadn't she seen it? Where was her mind that she could let something like that just slide off without a second thought? How could she be so _stupid _as to not think of it, in a life where every possible outcome counted?

_One day it'll be too late, and I'll pay for it_, Tifa thought bitterly, cursing every single character flaw that she saw in herself.

"Di," she said out loud to her friend's suddenly anxious look, all joking aside, "You just made me think of—well, what if _they _can be inconspicuous in public, too?" She knew that it would only take her friend a second to figure out who _they _were. "I can't believe I just…what if they try something? You'll be in a crowd, we all will, and it'll be loud and dark with flashing lights, and—_what?_" she demanded, not deeming it an appropriate time for Diana to be doing that thing where she ducked her head and smiled while clearly trying not to laugh.

Now Diana did laugh, albeit dryly. Her shorter friend spent about eight seconds glaring at her, fuming mentally and cursing every bad habit that came to mind, particularly the one that caused a person to enjoy their own private joke while someone else stood by, angry and worried and waiting often not-so-patiently for the punch line to be explained.

"Teef—aw, Goddess, sorry. Kinda need an explanation for that one, huh? Ahem. Sorry. Really. It's just…I guess you don't know these people like I do.

Look, it's like this. They're not big on huge, public affairs. Like, no street executions for them, unless it's the middle of nowhere and there're no witnesses."

Tifa's arms prickled slightly with small goosebumps, but she ignored them.

Diana plowed on, beginning to talk with her hands. "If they go for me, they _avoid _the crowds, as weird as that sounds. I mean, you stab someone in the middle of a mob and there's no way for them to catch you unless there's an eyewitness—which could be a setup, in a lot of different ways—or there're fingerprints, which I highly doubt an assassin would be dumb enough to leave. Seems easy, right? Well, I don't know why, but I think they'd rather just get me where I'm least expecting it and I'm alone. If I was on a mission, they could easily just make it look like an accident, or like I just had the bad luck to get myself killed."

Tifa started to protest. "Di, who are you trying to kid? You know that no one would buy that for a second. It just wouldn't be logical-sounding to anyone who knew you at all, and besides, you're too good anyway!"

Diana shook her head. "I'm sure they could find ways to make it convincing. They could always go for the dark alleyway thing. And I've been avoiding those, thanks. Or an old abandoned warehouse—same goes for those. Or," she raised her eyebrows, "a secluded clearing up on a mountain. Or a street on one side of town when it's common knowledge that every single person will be on the opposite side of town at the time. _Or _out on a solo mission where—"

Tifa pressed her lips together. "Well, _yes_, but when that—"

"Don't go butting me; I've been out, we've been out, plenty of times and has anything ever happened? No."

"That doesn't mean it won't," Tifa muttered with a faint edge of her stubborn "mom voice."

"Well, I always have knives on me, anyway," Diana tossed her head just as stubbornly, "so this is nothing new. Nothing's different," she declared firmly.

Tifa narrowed her eyes at her friend for another moment, before making another clarification. "Have you thought to stop taking solo missions, at least?"

Diana supposed that that was as much of a consensus as she was going to get, so she nodded. "Zack and Cloud would've both made me stop anyway, but I thought of it."

"Hm. Well, okay, but I swear, anyone looks at you funny and they're going down," Tifa stated.

Diana couldn't help chuckling at a sudden image. "Hey, maybe you should throw beer bottles at them. I mean, in case they're not actually assassins. That'd be entertaining." She then pictured something funnier, on the track of making life difficult for would-be assassins. "Maybe we can use Cloud to start a chocobo stampede," she chortled, "and then they'll be pecked to death, too…heh… And then I can say that I've followed through on that threat…"

"Oh, be serious," Tifa scoffed, whacking at Diana with a wad of unidentified clothing that was wound up in her hand. But she wasn't one to stay somber forever herself, and she smirked slightly at a thought of her own. "Or," she grinned, "We can just tell Zack that some guy was hitting on you, because, you know, it's only a matter of time before he's going to have to beat someone up—"

"Who am I beating up?" the named hollered from the living room. Apparently he had survived the glomping of the mini-ninja.

"No one!" Diana yelled back hurriedly.

Tifa gave her friend a sneaky smile. "What, you don't go for the jealousy thing?"

"Not particularly, no, and I don't think—heyyy!" she whined. "Don't make fun of me," she mock grumbled.

"Okay, okay. Now put this on."

"Fine, fine. Really, you people all—oh my Goddess—" Diana struggled with the garment and finally got it on. Then she made the mistake of turning to look in the mirror.

"It's a winner!" Tifa crowed in triumph.

"I'll say it is." Yuffie was back, poking her head in the door and gawking at her tall friend.

Diana kept her face straight as she swiveled slowly. The green shirt would look innocent enough on a hanger, with a wide-cut neckline and loose short sleeves, but that was before one took into account that it stopped about an inch above a normal waistline. On Diana's lanky figure, there was a good two-inch gap running around her middle. She was reminded of Yuffie's choice in attire that way, she noted with amusement.

"And, you know, you have the right kind of figure to pull that off," Tifa said thoughtfully, stepping back and regarding her friend's reflection.

"No kidding," Yuffie grinned. "You look awesome! And it doesn't make you look like a skank! There are plenty of people out there that just can't do it right." She shook her head in mock anguish.

Diana raised an eyebrow nervously. "Uh, I'm going to assume that's a good thing…"

"Yes. Definitely a plus." Tifa nodded wisely. She looked around for something, and then she spotted the clock on the dresser. "Oh, drat it all, it's seven-thirty already?" she exclaimed. The other two girls looked: the clock heralded the numbers 7:27 with the PM dot lit up. "I have to get to the bar—I'll meet you there. The guys are leaving, too, I think. Just come when you're ready!" And she whisked out the door in a blur of white and black.

Diana frowned slightly. "What, we aren't considered ready?"

Yuffie began to grin evilly.

"What."

"You need makeup," the ninja informed her gleefully.

Diana sighed in acceptance. "Yes, all right. Only thing is, you are not going anywhere near my face. Tell me what to do." She laughed when Yuffie pouted and dragged her to the mirror in the bathroom anyway.

It was strange. She looked so…different. Different was the only word she could really come up with at this point. A bland, ambiguous word, yes; but the only way she could describe her reflection as it appeared to her. She couldn't decide if she really liked it or not. It was just foreign as of now.

She wasn't used to feeling pretty. She didn't have a self-esteem crisis or anything, but she had also never been particularly proud of her looks. It would be nice to be able to say that she was just keeping a handle on her ego, but she was sure she knew better. True, she wasn't a hag; but she wasn't a natural beauty like Tifa, either. But was it so bad to feel like an ordinary medium once in a while?

She also wasn't used to looking so overwhelmingly feminine. She didn't wear shorts much anymore. She generally avoided heels for their impracticality. Makeup was too much of a hassle to handle most of the time. She didn't own very many articles of pretty, womanly clothing that attracted attention.

But her back was straighter. Her shoulders were back. Her head was lifted slightly higher than her usual stubbornly proud tilt.

She was going to enjoy the freedom of walking around in these shorts. She felt like she could kick down a wall and dance around in victory in these aggressive-looking heeled ankle boots. She kind of liked the look of the dark lining around her eyes. And she felt pretty, and, if she wanted to flatter herself, eye-catching.

"See?"

Diana met the petite girl's eyes in the mirror.

"It isn't so bad feeling pretty, now is it?" Yuffie quirked a smile at her, but with a rare note of seriousness.

"I suppose not, no." Diana looked back at her own eyes. They flared blue-green, and she grinned before turning to open the door.

**A/N: Aw ^^ confidence booster=happiness. Yeah, it was a sort of in-between filler, but hopefully it was marginally humorous. With any luck at all, the next one will be downright hysterical. xD Review please my lovelies, thanks for reading and I'll see you again ASAP! :)**


	45. Seventh Heaven, Amplified

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Whatever squares, enixes, or combinations of the two own this stuff...well, I can assure you that they sure didn't come up with _this _chapter! xD**

**A/N: FIFTY-SEVEN DAYS? *dodges fireballs* WHADDAYA MEAN, FIFTY-FREAKING-SEVEN DAYS? ! (I have to admit, that looks like a new record. Maybe. If you don't count my temporary summer hiatus.) Ehmahgawd, no wonder Ultimate's been nagging me for...weeks...yeah... But I've gotten ahead in writing by now, and I finally got back and finished this part and edited it, and I want school to be over already, and I'm wicked tired, and here it is! I love you all and I apologize a thousand times over; I hope this one's worth it because with any luck it'll be amusing at the least. Definitely rated T humor. Definitely. Hahahaha, enjoy the products of the workings of my mind! Sorry if a little editing is kinda out of whack - five hours of sleep per night for two weeks straight does things to most people, and I'm not even average xD But it should be okay, and it's nice and long and jam-packed with insanity. It kind of ends in an awkward place, but the next section isn't quite right yet, and besides, it's funny :) So have loads of fun with this one, and prepare for your perceptions of some characters to be forever scarred :D If anyone ever seems too dignified...just go ahead and flip on back to this one. Sorry, thanks, and HERE! xD**

**Chapter 45: Seventh Heaven, Amplified**

"He's gonna be so floored," Yuffie insisted for the thousandth time as the two girls boarded the train that would take them down into the slums before they would switch lines to get to Sector Seven.

"Oh, he's seen me in clothes like this before," Diana scoffed. She wished the blood would stop rising to her face, though, because it was making it increasingly harder to blow off her friend's remarks. So she decided to artfully change the topic. "I still can't believe you managed to drag Mr. Doom-Despair-and-Agony along. I wonder if the guys got him all the way to the bar…alive…" She wrinkled her nose and then snorted in amusement at the thought of the two spiky-haired SOLDIERs attempting to drag the resisting Turk down the street.

"I bet they did just fine." Yuffie waved a hand airily. "It was easy for me. All I had to do was threaten him a couple times and tell him that maybe he'd get to shoot somebody. He didn't put up much of a fight, honestly. Didn't even pull the father threat on me!" She shook her head in disbelief, shrugging.

Diana's brows drew together. "'Father threat.' What do you mean?"

"You know, the one where he says he'll contact my father and tell him where I am or whatever." The girl rolled her eyes in what might have been disgust. "Like Lord Rod-Up-His-Ass would even care."

Diana blinked in mild shock. She knew that Yuffie had run away from home, and she asked her friend if that was the reasoning behind Vincent's apparent attempts to get Yuffie to behave.

Yuffie snorted. "I ran away for the first time when I was nine, are ya kidding? Sure, they always brought me back—I didn't have anywhere to go anyways. I met Zack, once, back in Wutai. He was on a mission, and I'm pretty sure we insulted each other a lot. And I stole his materia." She thought for a second. "Eh. I was a kid. But I finally got over here. It wasn't exactly clear whether I had "permission" or not. But, what the hey, do I care? And has anyone tracked me down? Nooo! Not the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

Chuckling, Diana shook her head resignedly. That was Yuffie for you. Diana knew that the small ninja had never gotten on very well with her father, especially since her mother had died when Yuffie was young. Lord Godo was into tradition and the "old ways," and apparently drinking tea, as well. It didn't come as too much of a shock that sixteen years of that was just about as much as Yuffie could handle. The only thing that perturbed Diana was Yuffie's position on the Wutai-Midgar war. She knew that her young friend wanted Wutai restored to its former glory; she believed in its power, being the heiress and all, no matter what parental issues she might have. And she couldn't exactly take sides, what with being so loyal to her home country whilst consorting with Turks and SOLDIERs.

"Do you miss it?" Diana asked suddenly.

"Wutai?" The girl lifted one shoulder. "Eh. The actual place, yes; some of the people and traditions and all that crap, not so much. In a couple more years I woulda gone crazy. I even overheard my father talking to someone about my future once—you know, making a "politically advantageous marriage" and whatnot." She made air quotes. "Then he started going on about male heirs, and I was like, damn, I am _out_ of here. I knew once I was eighteen, I was getting married to some rich snob with some huge estate and a huge bank account and a neat, tidy, huge mansion so I could have lots of neat and tidy little children for the good of my country. EWWW." She stuck out her tongue. "Kill me first. So I had to skedaddle on out of there as soon as I had the resources, and once I'm a legal adult, with any luck I'll be able to be my own person for real," she sighed. She had turned seventeen since making her way to Midgar, and was practically counting down the days until eighteen already. But at the same time, getting one year older meant another year closer to not having any more left. She wanted to stay young forever—but not so that she would never be taken seriously. Maybe she could just…freeze at eighteen. Maybe she'd have to ask Vinnie for some tips on that one, she thought with a mental snort. "But however all that stuff turns out, I'm so not getting married. Ever."

"_Ever?_" Diana raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Never, never, ever, ever," she chanted in response.

"Not—" Diana fought down a snort with much difficulty— "not even to Vincent?" she teased.

"Aw, great Leviathan, no!" Yuffie yelped, attracting a couple more looks from the other passengers. They were already being observed by a few people, mostly young males, being in their certain attire and all. "He's too old for me. But he is good-looking—hey, we've had this discussion!" She mock glared at the brunette accusatorily.

"Yes, well, can't hurt to remind you, now can it?" she replied breezily.

She was about to respond with something scathingly clever, when a ding and yet another automated announcement informed them that this was their stop.

* * *

The bar was already half full, the music already turned up, as Tifa mixed drinks behind the counter and Cloud and Zack made mostly futile attempts to entertain Vincent. It was just after eight-twenty, and Tifa was expecting her female friends to show up any minute now. She listened in on the three males' conversation in the booth closest to the end of the bar with amusement.

"No, seriously—I bet you could hold your alcohol!" Zack said in excitement, arms crossed as he leaned against the side of the bench that Cloud was sitting on, facing Vincent.

"And what a tremendously thrilling ability that sounds like," Vincent replied in his trademark dry monotone.

"Oh, see, what you have to do is either find a SOLDIER—" Cloud began.

"—a new Third, so he's cocky, or a Turk—" Zack put in.

"And challenge him to some kind of drinking contest, because everyone knows the Turks go the fastest—" the blonde picked up speed.

"And when he can't stand up by himself but you're not even fazed it'll totally blow him…away…" Zack's voice grew faint as his gaze drifted to the door of the bar. Someone had just entered. "Sweet Mother Goddess," he whispered hoarsely as the someone strode up to him at the booth, grinning irrepressibly.

"Hey," she greeted him, bumping his shoulder with hers like she often did. "We aren't too late, are we? The trains were behind schedule."

Zack couldn't quite speak yet, and luckily for him, Yuffie bounded up beside his girlfriend and began the customary obnoxious rant to the group at large, over which Tifa yelled to Diana from behind the bar. Yes, diversions were often key.

"What? No, I didn't—hang on, what?" Diana walked off toward her friend, and Zack watched her go. Intently. Yuffie informed him that he was going to catch a fly in a minute if he wasn't careful.

Zack ignored her and turned to Cloud slowly, mouthing, _holy shit_. He thought his right knee might have given out. His friend shot him a thumbs-up, raising his eyebrows.

Hey, he was a guy. What could he say? Sure, he saw her all the time, but not this _much_ of her. Only once before had his hormones been screaming at him this severely in such an irrepressibly _male_ way when he had been looking at her, and that was a while ago. Since then, he had realized a few things. One thing was for sure, and that was that the screaming was one heck of a lot more forceful since he had known that he was, for real, for sure, in love with her. _Damn_.

"Who's on the jukebox?" Diana grinned at Tifa, leaning on the bar.

"I hate to admit it, but Yuffie called dibs," the dark-haired woman shook her head. "If anyone asks, it was never within my power to give her reign over the music choice."

"Hey, I like it better than a DJ table or whatever. It's more…I don't know. Authentic? I just can't believe the stuff you've managed to get for it—I mean, who even sells those song things for jukeboxes anymore?" Diana wrinkled her nose. The music industry wasn't huge, even in Midgar, so she wondered how music stores made it these days. Come to think of it, she didn't think she'd even seen one out in the city before. Maybe at a stand, since she was never quite looking for things that one would find at such places.

"I know; I love it." Tifa beamed at the glowing machine in the corner, the neon lights pulsating along with the beat. "It's so classic. Vintage, you know? …Oh boy. Oh, there goes Yuffie."

Diana's head snapped around to watch, black-lined eyes wide, as Yuffie scampered across the room, unnoticed by most. She reached for one of the buttons with a mischievous glint in her eyes, and Tifa muttered, "Scratch that from before—if anyone asks, I never gave her permission to so much as enter this building."

**2035 hours**

"All right, guys, everyone name your favorite variety of alcohol," Tifa commanded briskly, pointing a pen at the booth jammed full of her friends.

"You know me," Cloud grinned, and Tifa conceded, writing his favorite beer down.

"Rum!" Diana exclaimed. She might not be a regular drinker, but she had her favorites.

"Whiskey," Zack smiled slyly.

"I'm a tequila guy," Max declared.

"Brandy!" said his dark-haired counterpart.

"Yuffie, _no_," Tifa stated firmly as the teenager opened her mouth.

"Wha-at? I can come but I can't—?"

"No. I'm not getting arrested, you're not getting arrested, I'm not serving a minor alcohol, and you're not getting wasted!" Tifa planted her hands on her hips and glared at her younger friend. "Besides, it probably wouldn't be good for your system. You're still growing, and with your weight it wouldn't take much to send you over the edge—"

"Okay, okay, I get it, I get it. Relax, Mom," Yuffie sighed, leaning back.

Tifa rolled her eyes in slight exasperation and turned to Vincent, who was sitting sullenly in what Yuffie had named Vincent's Emo Corner of the booth. "Anything, Vince? Oh, right—a Burgundy…" she murmured, making a note. "Okay. I'll be back around." She walked off with her graceful gait, and Cloud watched her go. Intently.

"Probably because it looks like blood…" Yuffie muttered in reference to Vincent's choice of beverage.

"…Mister Dark-and-Dismal Pseudo-Vampire," Diana continued, and snorted not-so-elegantly.

"_Emo_ Suited Vampire," amended Yuffie, pausing and raising her eyebrows at the brunette when she gave her an odd look. "What."

"Pseudo, Yuffie. Not suited, although he is in fact also wearing a suit. Pseudo as in wannabe, would-be, fake, quasi."

"Gawd. You and your words," Max muttered, slumping down in his seat before straightening suddenly to look around hopefully for their drinks.

"Yeah, and you never know whether she's insulting you or not," Zack chuckled, slinging an arm around Diana's shoulders.

"I don't insult _you_," she murmured, then admitted, "much."

Shane winced theatrically as the two's faces became dangerously close, and Max began to cower in fear, until Yuffie reached across the table to smack at the two men, yelling for them to shut up and that she thought it was cute. Cloud stared forlornly across the room until he abruptly rose and went after Tifa.

**2221 hours**

Two hours later, Yuffie had the entire bar up and dancing. This was regarded as fairly amazing, for all that it wasn't even ten-thirty yet.

As it turned out, there was in fact a science behind Yuffie's newfound ability. She had always been a sucker for certain music—the kind that just made you start dancing in your seat until you figured out that it would work a lot better standing up, and with any luck most of the room would share your sentiments. Most of the songs on the jukebox were comfortably familiar to most of the population (again, the industry wasn't huge, so if you were into it, you knew just about everything there was to know without too much effort). The music had become progressively more head-bobbing and dance-inducing, until a good number of people had been hitting the happy juice for quite some time and were more likely to "start gettin' down" as Reno chose to put it. At that point, Yuffie pressed one more key in, and began to giggle to herself.

Tifa looked up as she recognized the disc-scratching intro and subsequent yelling from the rapper. Raising her eyebrows and shaking her head in resignation, she reached below the counter and came up with a couple dozen shot glasses on trays. She would be needing them.

**2223 hours**

Reno was the one to start the mosh pit. Granted, it was a complete accident that began with the incitement of a potentially fight-worthy opponent, but that was to be expected of the redhead. Somehow anger and fist-throwing was avoided and it turned into a giant...pit...of moshness?

That plus the shots indicated that it was going to turn into an interesting night.

**2234 hours**

A broad-shouldered man with a blonde crew cut stumbled out of the mass of bodies smashing together, grumbling with the occasional loud profanity. He crashed down onto a stool at the end of the booth, where Zack, Cloud, and Vincent were the only ones left. Diana and Yuffie had run off with Tifa, and Shane and Max had left some time ago to "scope out the territory."

Zack looked up from his third whiskey in surprise. "Cid?" he asked, peering at the irritable pilot.

"YES it's me goddammit!" he growled.

"He's an _angry_ drunk…" Cloud whispered to Zack.

"He's _always_ angry," Zack whispered back.

"Eh? Whazzat? Ya got the thrice-damned Turks in this joint? ! Of all the places in the entire damned city ya think I'd find a place with good booze an' without all yon hooligans around! But no! No, ya got yer crazy ninja chicks, yer Turkeys…what the hell else?" Cid ranted on. The three could guess who he was referencing in regard to the "crazy ninja chicks."

"Cid." Zack leaned across the table with a sincere expression on his face. "You sound as if you need a drinking buddy."

"And what in tarnation would I need a freakin' "drinking buddy" for?" Cid scoffed.

"All I'm sayin' is that the Turks aren't all thrice-damned." Zack leaned back casually and linked his fingers behind his head, the picture of aloofness.

Cid glared at him for a moment. "All right, I'll bite. Explain yerself an' be damned quick about it," he muttered in resignation.

"_Well_." Zack sat up again eagerly, and his mako eyes burned into Cid's for emphasis. "There's a certain trouble-causing redhead around, goes by the name of Reno, likes to start fights and drink a lot…"

"Who, Mullet-Boy?" Cid guffawed with a snort.

"Yes, that one. I'd suggest striking up a conversation. Or, if you're too civilized for that, just challenge him to a drinking contest—" The words were hardly out of his mouth when Cid was up and across the room like a shot, the fumes that trailed from his cigarette lingering.

"Vince, don't _you_ ever drink?" Zack whined, now eyeing the glass in the Turk's hand.

He slowly turned his head, his bangs half covering his amber eyes. "This no longer qualifies as alcohol?"

"Well, it ain't exactly hard liquor, is it?" Zack folded his arms behind his head again. Cloud was marveling at how Zack always managed to be that one person who could flippantly call some of the most dangerous individuals on the Planet by nicknames and not be shot, decapitated, disemboweled, or a combination, for it. (That wasn't to say that said methods hadn't at least been attempted.)

"No," Vincent replied patiently—wait, patiently? "But I enjoy it. Is that a problem?"

"Now you're getting the idea!" Zack cried, slapping the Turk on the back. Cloud winced. He would have blamed the gesture on that third glass of whiskey, but he knew as well as the other two that the mako was burning the alcohol out of the SOLDIERs' systems like calories during a workout. Vincent, however, seemed to have resigned himself to the younger man's modus operandi, and just sighed.

**2250 hours**

"So, Tifa—" Reno crashed down lopsidedly onto a barstool, gripping the counter for support. He attempted to make eye contact, but too much was spinning.

Diana watched unnoticed, a few seats down, and snickered. The mosh pit was still going strong, but in her opinion, the poor Turkey needed a break. He was going to have a bad enough hangover as it was, having so far consumed enough liquor to drown several small animals. Tifa raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

"Don't take this too literally, yo, but, uh, wanna make out?" The redhead finally managed to fix his eyes upon one spot, and stared intently (and drunkenly) at the bartender.

"Literally? How exactly would I _not_ take that literally?" Tifa scoffed, resisting the urge to show a sign of amusement. It would only encourage him.

He wagged an admonishing finger at her. "You're avoiding the question, sweetheart." He was no doubt gearing up to explain the finer points of the matter to her, but was interrupted by his barstool inexplicably dumping him on the floor. Sure, Rude's foot colliding very purposefully with one of the legs of the stool might have had something to do with it. But who was keeping track?

Tifa peered over the counter quickly, her motherly instincts forcing her to scan for injuries. She saw none except the confusion that was quickly followed by much dramatic moaning and groaning, so she quickly mouthed "_Thank you!_" at the bald Turk. He nodded briefly but not curtly in response, hands clasped behind his back. Rude had always had a soft spot for the martial artist/bartender, and Tifa was always grateful for his amiability towards her. Especially when his partner needed a little…reigning in.

**2308 hours**

"You haven't had _anything else_?" Yuffie gaped, smacking her hands down on the table. "It's only just after eleven but, but, you're walking straight, and, and everything!" It was true; her friend's gait that betrayed her higher mastery of balance and control was unchanged.

"Okay, I took a shot with Reno as a pity move after Rude dumped him on the floor, but that's done nothing. I mean, look at me!" Diana gestured down at all of herself, or at least, as well as she could with Zack's arm securely around her waist.

Yuffie turned slowly to Cloud, who looked across the table at Zack, who shrugged mildly, causing Cloud to turn back to Yuffie with his eyebrows raised. The blonde and the ninja traded identical facial expressions for a moment—an occurrence so rare it should practically be documented—and faced Diana.

"What!" she yelped in self-defense. "I can't choose the lack of a killer hangover?"

"Well, but, with your tolerance, see, you can…" Yuffie began in a logical tone of voice, then trailed off. "Where's Reno?" She glanced around. "Dammit, it's like the employees at that materia shop. Always talking your ear off when you don't need it, but as soon as you need help, noooo, they've all mysteriously disappe—Reno! Ol' buddy ol' pal. C'mere!" She waved frantically at the wandering redhead, and he must have gotten the gist of her gestures, because he sauntered over promptly.

"Hey there, Princess," he slurred.

Yuffie recoiled slightly, waving her hand in front of her face. "Ugh! Great Leviathan, Mullet Boy, how much more are you planning on having?"

"Hell, I dunno, but they're goin' strong over there!" He pointed with his beer bottle to a corner of cheering people and empty shot glasses.

Before Diana could stop her, Yuffie had hailed one of the men over there, yelling, "We have a challenger!" at the top of her lungs. (Well, okay, to be fair, if it had been the top of her lungs, the windows and glasses would have shattered followed by a city-wide shockwave and permanent hearing loss for at least a three-block radius.)

"No, we do _not_ have a challenger—!" Diana began to hiss, but Zack caught her eye.

"Aw, c'mon, you don't _hafta_ be a stick-in-the-mud because you don't want to end up forgetting the entire night and waking up feeling like the living dead," he reasoned imploringly. Maybe it just seemed imploring to her because he was giving her The Eyes from less than a foot away. "As little as this won't do a thing to you. Besides—learn to live." He crooked half a daring smile at her and she was a goner.

"All right, all right," she tried to grumble, but smiled instead, "but only because of the puppy eyes…"

"I'm not getting out-drinked by a woman!" the guy from the shots table was saying loudly. "Bring it on!"

Yuffie trotted over and dragged Diana across the room to plonk her down on the stool across from the man.

He sized her up and appeared to give a mental shrug. Female; tall, maybe a hundred and thirty pounds; looked strong-stomached but couldn't be anything special. Or so he thought.

She sized him up as well. Male of average build; a normal human, not a SOLDIER; maybe a hundred and sixty pounds; confident.

"All right. Bring it, hotshot," she stated overdramatically, resigning herself to the fact that this could possibly be entertaining. She swigged down a tequila shot, resisting the urge to wrinkle her nose at the burning sensation traveling up and down the back of her throat, and slammed the glass upside-down on the table for effect. Eh. Not her absolute favorite drink, although, incidentally, it was Max's; he was at the next table over doing the same thing she was and appeared to be immensely enjoying himself.

Several shots later, she was starting to feel the alcohol. It wasn't affecting her so much as she was simply detecting it. But things were definitely entertaining! She was one of those people who were very much aware that they were beginning to sense the traces of drunkenness in themselves, and she made some kind of attempt to keep herself in check.

Her opponent—her fully human, already-buzzed opponent—was definitely going downhill, and going fast. Or uphill, depending upon one's perspective. One or two later, he was practically off his stool—and Diana kept going.

"Ten!" she proclaimed loudly, smacking the glass down on the table and nearly breaking it in the process.

The man just groaned in response, lookinb rather pale, and bolted for the door in a straighter line that Diana would've thought possible. She raised an empty glass in victory to a roar of cheers, hopped to her feet, and staggered slightly back across the room to the booth where Yuffie, Vincent, and Zack were now sitting.

"Did I just hear you say 'ten'?" Yuffie smiled mischievously.

"As in, 'I have consumed ten drinks in the past however many minutes'?" Zack continued.

"Yes, yes, I have. I did. Ten." Diana nodded vigorously. "But the one before that, don't forget that…and the rum. Before."

"You should be severely impaired right about now…" Zack remarked, looking her over as she sat next to him, wobbling. "I know I'm definitely getting there." He held up another whiskey in triumph. "In fact, why aren't you only half-conscious?" He stared at her in sudden suspicion.

Vincent ran the calculations through his head. "Actually, Diana, why are you still alive?" He sounded more intrigued than actually concerned even though he was exaggerating; but it was hard to tell with the whole I'm-emotionally-vacant complex.

"Wha-at, you don't worry about _me_?" Yuffie interjected haughtily as Diana scoffed, "Sorry to disappoint you, guys, really." She laughed. "I have a weird system…a _really_ weird system…and not as much happ—whoops, sorry!" She had flung an arm in the air for emphasis and nearly decked Zack.

"You're showing the symptoms of someone less than half as intoxicated as you…" Vincent continued to murmur, but no one heard him.

"Hey! Hey guys! Whoooooooa—" Reno skidded across the floor and plonked down at the booth, looking rather off-kilter and probably feeling so too. "I _love_ this song—" He suddenly stopped midsentence, another rarity—this night was just chock full of 'em—and stared at the middle of the table with his mouth in a slanted O.

Yuffie giggled, nearly keeling over onto Vincent. "Jeez, Reno, what're you on now?"

"It…it…look, yo…it's so…_bright_…" He continued to gape in what appeared to be pure fascination and rapture.

Diana had just realized what he was looking at: the little candle in the middle of the table. She had actually advised her friend against keeping these after a little incident not so long ago, but Tifa hadn't gotten rid of the little colored glass-encased disasters waiting to happen. "Y'know, Reno, I sometimes worry about your near-orgasmic response to fire," she commented. Normally she should have realized that there were much better words to use around this guy, mostly in the name of preventative measures, shall we say. But, well, she didn't, and Zack started giggling—_giggling_—madly at her temporary lack of alternate vocabulary.

"Hey, you wanna see orgasmic, yo?" the redhead responded. "I'll show you what that looks like—"

Diana was about to retort that, no, she did not particularly want to, and that if he felt the need to do so then she could easily demonstrate in turn what exactly it looks like to have one's own electric weapon shoved somewhere where the sun don't shine, but there was no need.

Reno lurched from the table and launched himself back into the escalating mosh pit, clearly attempting to execute some kind of dance maneuver that involved a lot of thrusting and throwing oneself around.

"He is going to concuss himself if he is not careful…" murmured Vincent, and that was just too much for the rest of the table. Yuffie capsized straight over onto Vincent in fits of mad cackles, which he didn't look particularly pleased about; but it didn't look like he was going to disembowel her, either. In fact, he might have smirked. Diana clung to Zack, laughing madly as she tried to keep herself upright, but he was hopelessly incapacitated as well and he slumped against her, in hysterics.

**2354 hours**

"Hey, guys—guys—" Zack choked as he attempted to get his guffawing laughter under control— "Where—where's Diana? She left like…minutes ago. Minutes." He frowned slightly.

"With Yuffie…" Cloud continued his friend's train of thought.

"I would suggest that you all start praying as soon as is possible, but I believe that that would be a…a futile…a futile effort," Vincent's brow wrinkled slightly, which meant he was concentrating to the point of appearing constipated on getting his words out. This was never a problem for him—never. What could possibly be happening to— Oh. The wine? He had only gone through—oh. Several bottles. Of course. The world made sense again. Right…

Zack bounced up and down anxiously. "But, but, _minutes_, I tell you! Where'd they—"

Like a cue from a comic flick, there was a sudden amplification of the music accompanied by a electronical screeching sound, followed by a few choice words from someone in the same general direction.

"If I am not mistaken…" Shane drawled, holding a glass in the air while sitting back-to-back on the floor with Max (they had been evicted from the booth.)

"…then that, my friends, is the melodious sound of a—" Max carried on the sentence but was quickly drowned out by more sudden noise.

"TURN IT UUUUUP! FIVE MINUTES TO MIIIIDNIIIIIIIIIGHT! YOU'RE COMIN' HOOOOME WITH ME TONIIIIIIIIIIIGHT—"

"Oh my gods," Tifa muttered to herself, looking up from mixing drinks behind the bar. She planted a hand on her hip. "They got that dratted karaoke machine working, didn't they?"

**2358 hours**

"Wonderful, Yuffie, I think we all appreciated that!" Diana yelled over the noise to her small friend, swaying slightly. "And you know what? Yeah. Yeah, we need a duet. Let's go! DIBS ON THE MIKE!"

Less than a minute after Yuffie's horrendously off-key rendition of a temporally appropriate rock song, the occupants of the bar bore witness—an appreciative, raucously cheering witness—to a duet by two of the famed "crazy ninja chicks."

"ALL MY LIFE, I'VE BEEN GOOD!" Yuffie yelled into her microphone before passing it off to Diana.

"BUT NOW!" the brunette hollered back.

"I-I-I-I-I-I'M THINKIN' _WHAT THE HELL_!" the two shouted together, getting the people to stand up like at a concert and wave their hands in the air.

"Dear gods, I love that girl," Zack sighed, staring towards the front of the room. Vincent raised an eyebrow.

**0002 hours**

"Hey—hey, Zack."

Zack blinked rapidly, shaken out of his daze, and looked up at the guy who had approached the table. "Oh, hey, man. What's up?" The other man was a SOLDIER; a Third that Zack recognized and had probably taught at some point.

"Question." He took a swig of his beer. "Okay. The tall chick with the brown hair…"

"Uh, you're gonna have to narrow it down a little bit more than that." But Zack was already getting the feeling that he knew where this was going. And somehow, he was convinced that he probably wouldn't be happy about it.

"Was with the short, crazy ninja girl…"

"Ah, yeah. Go on." Yeah, the feeling was definitely getting stronger.

"Is she taken? Like, she belong to anybody?"

_Ohhh, man, worst _possible_ way to put that one_… Zack thought. Some_one's not gonna like that_… "Well, actually—funny story, really, 'cause, uh…" But he didn't have to bide any more time, because someone who was very much relevant to this conversation had just walked up to the table, behind the other guy.

"I _beg_ your _pardon_?" she thundered.

Zack nearly chuckled to himself but remembered to do it mentally. See, this was another reason he loved her. That voice could warp metal.

"You wanna rephrase that?" Diana demanded icily. Well, okay, to be entirely fair, her speech was getting a little slurred, but you could hardly tell over the noise of the bar. And apparently she got very purposeful when intoxicated. "What the hell am I, a fricking piece of meat?" He looked slightly flabbergasted and not likely to put up a defense, so she sighed and hauled him off the bench effortlessly. "Gone. You. Now. _Pronto_." He was gone, pronto.

She took a seat next to Zack and fixed her gaze on him with a little difficulty. "Nice job refuting that one," she frowned slightly.

He blinked in surprise. "What, you wanted me to deprive you of your fun?"

Diana opened her mouth, then shut it, the opened it again and laughed. "You know me too well."

"True fact," he chuckled. "But if anything, you're the one that owns me, so…" He grinned.

"Yes, clearly, I wear the pants in the relationship—whoops—" She nearly sent a glass flying as she snagged some of Zack's drink.

"I hope you know that you are in fact drunk," Zack informed her bluntly in amusement.

"Hey now, so are you," she pointed out logically.

"Ah. Well, there's that…" He sighed and stretched. "But no big deal! 'Cause…'cause…" He suddenly spied a distraction. Well, "spied" might be the wrong word to use, seeing as how one would have had to be immensely gifted _not_ to see it. "Let's go dance!" he exclaimed.

"YEAH! Let's go!" Diana whooped, grabbed his hand, and dragged him into the middle of the mass of bodies taking up the majority of the room.

**0010 hours**

Tifa was so tempted. So, soooo so so _so_ tempted to just forsake her duty as the owner of this bar, and just jump straight into the middle of the dance floor. And that was downright out of character, for her to have a sudden urge and desire to shirk her responsibilities.

That is, until Cloud joined her behind the bar again to keep her company. That buoyed her spirits right up again. Sure, it might have had something to do with the way he had beelined over to her when a guy chose to make a statement directed at her that might have resulted in a mysterious human-sized hole in the wall had he continued the thought, but what the hey. Tifa was no marshmallow, but apparently it was just that much more intimidating when a mako-eyed, very protective-looking Cloud appeared close beside her. Very close.

After that, with Cloud to back her up on the orders, she started her good old customary free-drink bargain. Or should it be called more of a..."challenge"?

**0012 hours**

Someone was making an entrance.

The door banged open, and an aura of having already engaged in much revelry accompanied the newest patrons. There looked to be three of them, dressed in mostly black and-

Diana froze and one of her eyes twitched slightly. "Angeal?"

Zack stopped dead as well and peered over Diana's head, gaping. "_Sephy_?"

"What in the holy name of—" Diana began, but was interrupted by—

"Aaaand _Genesiiiiis_!" The auburn-haired First was clearly feeling left out, and tore through the middle of the group, whooping and laughing. He was nearly unrecognizable, because somehow, he was missing his red leather trenchcoat.

"The trenchcoat…" Zack muttered to Diana in disbelief.

"…Gone?" she asked incredulously, looking at him.

"Once it's past midnight the party don't stop!" Genesis continued to holler, jumping into the middle of the mass of dancing people, one fist in the air.

Zack giggled quietly. "That doesn't even rhyme…"

Angeal apparently found this to be hysterical, and began hooting with laughter as he staggered into Sephiroth, who was peering intently across the room in that creepy silence that got extremely pronounced when he was drunk, appearing to be attempting to discern the controller of the jukebox. He located Yuffie, who was fiddling with the already near deafness-inducing volume, and began to edge over towards her in what he appeared to believe to be a subtle manner. It was not. And anyone who knew anything about the General and drinking knew that that creepy silence wouldn't last long, and that soon it would be punctuated by all manner of drunken, hysterical outbursts.

Zack suddenly leapt onto the nearest table, having selected it as his stage. He began jumping around in a manner that might have been classified as dancing—or at least, he did until the neurons in his half-drunken mind had a misfire and he shot straight off the table and to the floor. To his credit, however, it was one hell of a trajectory.

"IT'S RAININ' MEN!" Diana shouted, throwing her hands in the air, as Zack landed not so far from her feet.

"HALLELUJAH, IT'S RAINING MEN!" someone else yelled back—and Yuffie pressed the corresponding button on the jukebox. And there was not a single person in the room that wasn't dancing for the next twenty minutes.

Diana danced like there was no tomorrow. She threw her hands in the air, jumped around, joined the mosh pit, partook in some hard-core fist pumping, and used her hips a lot—and the last one seemed to involve Zack an awful lot. Curious thing, that.

**0035 hours**

The Silver General was on the hunt.

He prowled through the tangle of dancing bodies, stealthy and unseen; or at least he would have been if not for those dozen or so or more drinks. His frosty green eyes latched onto his target and didn't shift an inch, even when he collided with people or objects (he was never quite sure which.)

Emerging from the jungle of people, he crept swiftly across the remainder of the space between him and his destination. His prey was unsuspecting, sitting at the bar, nonchalantly having another drink of whatever was on the counter. And then…

He pounced.

"TASE!" he yelled, poking his victim solidly just below the ribs on either side.

The target gave an uncharacteristic screech and convulsed madly, falling onto the floor at the General's feet.

Sephiroth stared down, grinning rather insanely.

"SEPHIROTH!" the target roared from the floor.

"ANGEAL!" he bellowed back. His friend became madly ticklish when drunk, for whatever reason.

"DON'T FORGET GENESIIIIIIIIIS!" The auburn-haired SOLDIER, who, thankfully, was not missing any additional items of clothing (socks didn't count), tore by, half delirious.

"WHO'S GOT THE TASER? WHO'S GOT THE—" Reno came shooting by, but unexpectedly collided with the equally drunk Genesis.

Both men blinked, sitting on the floor. Reno was wearing Genesis' trenchcoat. How that came about, well, no one was quite sure, and even if they were, no one would remember.

"GIMME THAT BACK!"

"BUT IT'S SO MUCH SEXIER ON ME!"

And that was how the two gingers ended up in a bar fight.

Yuffie stared from across the room. "Why do all the hot ones have to be completely batshit insane?" she inquired of no one in particular.

**0042 hours**

"Whew! Hey, guys!" Diana grinned and yelled over the music at her friends behind the bar. Mostly at Cloud, because Tifa was busy arm-wrestling a guy over the bar.

Zack took the barstool next to hers, their hands still firmly intertwined. He knew Diana's slightly flushed face wasn't just because of the elevated temperature inside the bar, and he chuckled to himself. He cocked his head towards Tifa and addressed his friend. "How many've won yet?"

"So far…" Cloud glanced at the patrons down the bar. The arm of the man whose hand Tifa appeared to be severely abusing dropped to the counter with a _thud_, followed by cheering and the exchange of a few gil among friends. "Including that one…none."

**A/N: Ehehehe... Oh, Tifa, now don't severely injure anybody. Well, I thought that that was all rather amusing! I hope you enjoyed it as well, as sufficient near-compensation for my fifty-seven-day period of writer's block and idiocy! I thank you for reading, and review please! :D**


	46. Of Analyses

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Wait, wait, let me check the records-! Oh. Yep. Nope. Sorry.**

**A/N: I'm back again ;) And I just made a cake. :DDD (It made up for my sore ears - got double piercings ^^ finally, and they've been irritated the past couple of days.) Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed that bout of insanity. I have to say so myself, bits of that were undeniably hysterical. To be all cryptic and foreboding, I'll say that that's basically the last instance of total chaos before everything goes to hell and, well, descends into the _bad_ kind of chaos and cacophany. Cue the organ music. Basically the setup for the beginning of the end comes out in the end of this chapter... Of course, the story's nowhere near over with yet, muahahaha - it's too complicated for that - but I warn you of The Imminent Freakout! O_o Hehehe, I recently told Ultimate of my Entire Plan and she totally flipped xD I can't wait...but then again I can...hmmm. Oh, and just to let you know, I won't be on as much of a hiatus as I was last summer, because this time - HAH - I'll actually have a functional laptop/internet connection! :D My time will be limited between summer friends and work, but I'll keep going as well as I can with the updates :) This one has a major fluff moment xDDD I couldn't resist. And those have been a little short in supply lately. So here ya go, and prepare for the beginning of the end! Also, keep an eye to the dates...they'll become important, if only for a frame of reference. :) Enjoy!**

**Dedicated to ShatterTheHeavens for being the 250th reviewer! :DDDD**

**Chapter 46: Of Analyses**

**0057 hours**

"Wow. Well, two beat me. SOLDIERs," Tifa sighed to Diana. "And I was hoping for a hundred percent this time. Ah, well."

Diana was about to express her sympathies when all of a sudden both their eyes widened at a sight across the bar. A small black-and-white whirlwind was quite literally hauled a pseudo-vampire (or suited, depending upon how one looked at it) towards the dance floor, yelling, "Let's dance, Vinnie!" In the background—or the foreground, as far as anyone's eardrums were concern—a techno song was blasting some barely discernible words that seemed to be saying some very racy things about whips and chains.

"Dear Gaia, he's going to shoot her," Diana said under her breath, looking mildly horrified.

"No, not quite. He cares too much for that," Tifa refuted. "She'll live. Wow, and I was hoping to close around one…" She glanced at the clock. "Yeah, not happening," she laughed.

"Is—" Diana stifled a yawn— "Is it okay if I head out? Zack and I were gonna go."

"Oh, Di, go ahead! It's my bar, after all!" Tifa laughed. "I'll see you. Goodnight."

"'Night! Thanks." Diana hugged her friend and veered slightly to one side as she walked away. "Wuh-oh—okay, see, this is why I need Zack—"

"You called?" Zack popped up beside her and slid an arm around her waist. "Jeez. Whoo, _some_one's unstable!"

"Hey now, don't be going there, mister hypocrite!" Diana chided him mockingly, attempting to get the door open and failing until she remembered that she had to turn the knob first.

They continued in much of the same manner all the way to the Shinra complex, where Diana walked with Zack to his apartment. She suddenly stopped dead in front of the door as he pulled his keys out, and frowned slightly.

"And after that, hell, I don't even know what—huh?" Zack stopped mid-story and looked at her. "Ah, you don't have anywhere to go, do you?"

"Uhm." She had to think about that one for a second, and it was mildly difficult to do. But she got through it. "…Nope."

"Well, I don't mind—" Zack got the door open and tried to flick the lights on— "You can sleep with me." He grinned happily as he nearly missed the light switch…twice.

It took them both a second. "Zack Fair!" Diana exclaimed heatedly. "If _that's_ what you're using to think with, then—"

"Hang on, hang on, wait!" Zack begged, grabbing her hand again before she could back up another step. "You know I didn't mean it that way." His face colored slightly: a rare occurrence.

She stared at him for a second, then her face softened. "'Course I know that. Thanks," she remarked gratefully as she stepped into the apartment that was more familiar to her than he could have realized. _Hehehe. The closet…_ That particular memory seemed even funnier when she was drunk.

Several minutes later, when Zack stepped out of the bathroom after a short shower, Diana needed four full seconds to just begin to appreciate the temporary incredible shirtlessness. Her little drunken mind-corner sighed sadly when it went away. Okay, maybe not just that little corner. But still. She sighed out loud without thinking about it, and pointedly looked in the other direction when Zack shot her a questioning look.

"Mind if I use the shower?" she asked to distract him, halfway to the bathroom.

"No problem." He waved a hand at her while throwing a wad of clothing into his overflowing hamper. He kept forgetting to take the laundry to Tifa's.

Diana showered in under four minutes, a habit she had formed as the result of the usual tendency of the hot water in the Shinra building to peter out fast. Then she took a full extra minute in the bathroom stretching out her feet after freeing them of those death traps that people dared to call shoes. _Ah, showers: sweet relief._ However, when she went to dig through her canvas bag, she encountered a minor setback.

She cautiously stuck her head out the door, her hair nearly black from the water and dripping all over the floor. "Zack…"

"Hm?" He looked up from trying to cram something into the back of the fateful closet.

"I, um, I'm missing…something…clothing-wise…" She dutifully stared at the wooden floor between his feet, at the plastered wall next to his head, at the chip in the doorframe.

He blinked twice and thought for two seconds, then it came to him and he reached for a shelf behind him to produce a t-shirt. "It's clean, I promise."

"You read me like a book," she sighed, grinning lopsidedly as he tossed the shirt to her. "Thanks." She closed the door again, and as soon as he couldn't see her, she buried her nose in the slightly worn gray fabric. Her eyes closed and she smiled. It smelled just like him, but with a tinge of the clean-linen-and-soap smell of laundry detergent.

When she emerged, Zack was sitting on his bed and staring forlornly at his boots on the floor.

"Uh, Zack? Whas wrong with the boot?" she questioned, stumbling slightly over the words. Hey, she might not be anywhere near sober even after a head-clearing shower, but at least she knew so, and the majority of her thoughts were rational.

"I…I knocked it over when I threw the second one down…there…" he gestured sadly at the toppled shoe.

Diana stifled a laugh. Great, now he was drunk _and_ exhausted. "I think it's fine, Zack," she said consolingly. "But just because it's you, I'll fix it for you." She walked the few steps to the left and righted the renegade shoe, to which Zack beamed gratefully, yawned, and keeled over backwards.

She blinked. "Er. Zack? Zack…" She clambered onto his bed and leaned over him, poking at his shoulder. "Zaaaaack…"

"GOTCHA!" he cried, his eyes shooting open as he cackled at his own joke.

"Oh, jeez…" she sighed. "You need to get some sleep," she declared.

"Yeah…yeah, okay, good idea…" He reached over to turn off the single lamp and burrowed under the covers like a puppy.

Diana had enough awareness left to blush substantially as she pulled the sheets over herself, and she was grateful for the dark. What slipped her mind was a SOLDIER's fast-adapting night vision, which she had herself and shouldn't really have forgotten about.

Zack's blue-violet eyes glowed at her through the grayish dark, amused and decidedly closer than they had previously been. "I saw that," he gloated, laughing quietly.

"Saw what?" she countered breezily, staring back with green orbs that flared with mako with the lack of light. He just chuckled in response, and Diana reached over and started absently playing with the ink-colored tufts of hair on his head that still managed to stick out everywhere, even when he was lying down.

Gods, she was tired…it was well after one in the morning; it had to be.

He twined his fingers with those of her free hand, and they rested, interlocked, on the pillow between their faces. They lay like that, watching each other's eyes, until one of the pair drifted off.

Diana wasn't sure if she or Zack closed their eyes first. She wouldn't have thought it was her, as it usually took her longer to get to sleep…but she never felt quite…this…safe.

**Saturday, 24 August, 0454 hours**

Diana sighed in that blissful state of half-awareness when one has either slept for an unusually extended period of time or one simply feels that this has happened. In reality, it had been about three and a half hours, so it was merely a case of overtiredness. But she had run on less before.

She knew she'd been dreaming… Water, something about water. And the light… An image of the sun coming down through the water, like some divine halo. Ocean diving, maybe?

She lazily extended an arm above her head, expecting to meet the wall fairly soon. But all she found was empty air. Confused, she let out a quizzical murmur, and cracked one eyelid. As she turned her head, her pillow shifted and suddenly slipped from beneath her, hitting the floor with a soft _whump_. She turned her head the other way, thoroughly disoriented now, and figured out after several seconds that she was looking at the wrong wall of Zack's room through her slots of vision. She could see the front, and the back…but the back should be where the front was, and the front should be where the back was—oh. The pillow, the floor, the walls—she had flipped completely upside-down in her sleep.

Not feeling like expending much of an effort, she wriggled slightly in an attempt to get closer to the middle region of the bed, but she suddenly discovered a weight on her stomach. Her left eye creaked a bit more open, and after another few seconds spent figuring out what she was looking at, she rolled the eye. What she was looking at was the side of Zack's head. Further advances in the vision department revealed that his face was pointed toward the ceiling with that calm expression he got when he was asleep, his mouth slightly open.

At least he wasn't snoring, she reasoned, and when she fidgeted again, he made a noise. She tentatively called his name, but got no further response. "Yeah, okay, we all know you're cute, but before long I'm going to have to breathe, so…" she muttered, barely intelligible from sleep. She groggily reached a hand around and ruffled his hair gently, and laughed quietly when he smiled in his sleep.

The only downside to this was that he took the opportunity to shift again—more like convulse, actually, and before Diana knew it, she had an entire Zack squashing her, his spine poking into her stomach when he moved.

"Ugh! Zaaaaack…you gotta get off…" she groaned, flapping uselessly at any body part she could reach. Finally she hit a ticklish spot near his ribcage and he giggled in his sleep, squirming while Diana prayed he wouldn't elbow her anywhere that was important. She knew he forgot his own strength while he was awake, never mind asleep and dreaming. "Zaaaack…Zack!" She repeatedly jabbed him in the same spot—unknowingly sparking a brief dream sequence of his that involved rolling down a hill and hitting the same stick every few yards on the way down—until one eye finally worked its way into the waking world and sent some very confused signals to the brain at the sight of a half-crushed Diana looking at him blearily.

Finally, some kind of reaction. She was starting to worry for a second there. Sure, she lived half her life—notably, the training part, involving things like running long distances and overexerting the lungs—with her torso almost dangerously compressed and her lungs only partially functional as a result. She should be used to this. But Zack was _heavy_! All that muscle didn't just float there weightlessly, and besides, mako injections added on about ten to fifteen percent body weight, as far as Diana could tell. "You're going to need to move," she gasped.

"Eh?" He was practically cataleptic and his eye drifted shut again, but his motor functions responded when Diana pushed him into a sitting position. Granted, he keeled right over again; but beside her, not on top of her, and that was an improvement. And so he turned over to face her, curled up into a ball, sighed, and lapsed right out of consciousness again.

Diana made the classic deadpan you're-kidding-me face. But it didn't last long. "Yeah, you're cute, all right," she muttered. "If heavy for a puppy." As she laid there, a smile creeping back onto her face, she picked up movement in her peripheral vision and turned her head to investigate. The numbers on the digital clock had changed, and—oh, dear Gaia, it was only _three of five_? Somehow, seeing the numbers on the clock always affected her level of exhaustion; especially in the morning, when she was usually already bad-tempered. She reached awkwardly behind her head to seek out the pillow on the floor, and she dragged it beneath her head again. _…I'm going back to sleep. Non-negotiable._ And with that thought having been sent to the parts of her mind that she was pretty sure facilitated these things, everything began to shut down again and she relaxed, willing herself to sleep for at least another three hours. Just before she hit the drowsy wall of slumber, she curled up against Zack and sighed.

**0807 hours**

When Diana next awoke, the hour was much less ungodly. It had indeed been about three hours, for she was one of those people who are able to control the time they want their mind to wake up again. Except, of course, in cases of extreme exhaustion—then, for her, it was pretty much completely futile to try to resist the dreaming world.

She had pretty much just accepted the fact that she was once again awake, and judging by the gentle natural light in the room coming from the closed and shuttered window, it had to be well after sunrise, which was encouraging. Then, out of nowhere, she started shaking. Perhaps a more accurate way to put it was that something began moving that shook her. That was when she realized that she was no longer resting on a pillow.

Uh-oh. This was strangely reminiscent of a prior incident…but that was by no means a pessimistic insight.

"Of course," she muttered with marginal lucidity.

But it was enough for Zack to understand her, and he began chuckling harder: the source of the quaking. "Only you and me would manage this," he murmured, his voice also slurred from sleep.

Diana resisted the urge to correct his grammar, although it wasn't really fair in their discombobulated states, and instead gave in to her urge to hug him tightly. She did so, and grinned up at him drowsily. Apparently he had also noticed that they were upside-down on the bed. Well, Diana had done worse before—she had once woken up under her bed—and so had Zack. His most disruptive sleeping incident so far was when he had been a Second. He had been dreaming (and one could vaguely guess where this was going) and had scared poor Kunsel straight out of his own bed by hollering a war cry and flying headfirst out of his bed with a fist in the air. Unfortunately, Zack's lower half did not express a desire to participate in the battle charge, and so he had simply crashed to the floor, unconscious again before he even hit. The residents of the room beneath theirs in the barracks had had a few questions in the mess hall the next morning.

But there were no charges to be led in the early morning hours of the twenty-fourth of August; only speculation on how two people could turn upside-down together.

"G'morning." Diana tried to focus on Zack's eyes—they were very blue when he first woke up in the morning—but it was too bright in the room. That wasn't right; it couldn't be that bright.

"Morning," he grinned back lazily, winding an arm around her waist. "Please tell me I'm not a total wimp, and that you have a headache, too," he implored her.

"Now that you mention it," she groaned, remembering exactly why they would both be in such a state. "Oh Goddess, _eleven_ shots…at the very least…"

"Plus the other drinks…" Zack moaned, flopping his free arm over his eyes. "I lost count of the whiskeys…"

"So SOLDIERs get hangovers like the rest of us, huh?" Diana inquired grudgingly.

"Yeah, but not nearily as bad, and if we were average humans we woulda been dead. So."

"Eh. Fair enough." She struggled up into a half-sitting position, which was fairly difficult considering her body's protests combined with Zack's unwillingness to release her. Then she began to laugh, quietly at first, but the more she thought about it, the funnier the tangled mess of sheets and the whole upside-down-ness of the whole thing became. Zack followed her train of thought and started laughing again, and once they both got going they just started laughing at themselves. Tears leaked out of Diana's eyes as she attempted to roll off the bed and stand. Somehow she managed to do so without falling over, and helped Zack up shakily.

"Oh gods, head rush," he groaned, willing the pounding in his head to go away. "C'mon, I have stuff that always works for hangovers…" He led Diana by the hand into the diminutive kitchen and hunted through a small bin on the counter that was barely visible for all the things on it.

"Tea?" she inquired, leaning over his shoulder.

"Uh-huh. Normally I don't touch the stuff, but there's this kind I get from Angeal that almost always works on hangovers—there it is," he grinned in triumph, holding aloft two tiny packets. Diana eventually found the one tea kettle that Zack owned (in comparison to his mentor's eight) and heated the water.

A few minutes later, they were sitting back on the bed with steaming mugs of the blessed stuff. It was irritating to have to drink something hot during the summer, but the night had been fairly cool. The two were comparing notes on how much they remembered, which was funny because neither of them had afflicted or missing memories, when there was a knock on the door that didn't wait for an answer before the door was opened.

"Do not disturb, if you please; we are drinking tea," Zack stated serenely, causing Diana to giggle as a very blonde, very wide-eyed head came into view.

Cloud's first instinct was to run and pray that his retinas hadn't been permanently seared, but he quickly realized that there was nothing to run from—not at the moment, at least. "Er…tea?" he repeated before realizing the reason for the beverage. "Ah. Hangover remedy. I already covered that, myself." He paused. "…Why is it that I always find you two in the strangest scenarios?" he asked rhetorically. He also wondered whose boxers Diana was wearing, but he didn't say that out loud for fear of scarring damage to the structures of his inner ears.

But Diana knew her roommate too well, and saw his glance, and therefore informed him heatedly that "These are _mine_, thank you very much! I do not generally go around stealing people's clothing."

"Well, that _is_ mine," Zack pointed out, indicating the shirt Diana was wearing.

"Oh, shush—minor details," she scoffed, waving a hand airily and nearly spilling her mug of tea in the process. "It's a shirt, not underwear, for Gaia's sake."

Cloud cleared his throat loudly. "Yes, well, off the topic of underwear, if that'll be all, I'll just, er, leave you two alone, then—" And with that he backed out swiftly and hastily shut the door. They heard his footsteps retreating fast.

"Hmph. He seems to run away from us a lot," Diana observed, sipping at her hot tea.

"Not to mention I can't even count the number of pranks I've pulled on him over the past couple months…" Zack muttered. "It's probably instinct or something by now."

Diana laughed once, then glanced down at her mug and realized it was empty. "Hmmm." She shrugged and reached over Zack to place it on the table, next to the clock. It currently bore the numbers 8:23. "Gods, I love Sundays," she sighed. "No waking up at the crack of dawn, no one out on missions, less insanity around the city—good stuff all around."

"So in short, the best time to recover from a hangover," Zack supplied bluntly.

She paused. "Well, yeah, basically." They both laughed at that, simultaneously wincing at their still-throbbing heads, and Diana leaned back against the wall contentedly. She absently began playing with her hands, a habit she'd picked up as a teenager. Since her SOLDIER days it had turned into a habit of messing with her gloves, but the principle was the same. She twined her slim fingers together, folded and unfolded them, curled her hands in and out of fists, admiring the working miracles of two of the body's most useful tools.

As she did so, she spaced out, and when Zack turned his head to say something, he stopped short. He changed his mind and elected for once to say nothing at all. But he watched her, and not in a weird way.

Studying her profile, he realized how few and far between moments like this were for them. Their lives were hectic: in his case, a phone call and an order could send him halfway around the world, and in her case, an unwanted visitor with a certain purpose could send her halfway to physical and psychological hell. The times for revelry were created, not stumbled upon, and the times for crisis were an odd combination of the two and a thousand times as unpredictable.

No, their situation was neither ideal nor was it perfect. In fact, for most, it would seem downright hopeless and illogical. But not for them. It was quite imperfect, and that was what made it right.

He held his sidelong gaze towards Diana, taking in every feature like he was seeing her for the first time. Everything told a story, either one that spoke of something that had happened to her, or one that told someone insightful enough what she was like.

She wasn't classically beautiful, like girls he'd dated before. (Well, okay; if he was being entirely honest with himself, 'dating' was a loose term for a good number of his past exploits.) She didn't have the whole endearment factor going for her with the porcelain doll look, or the princess-waiting-to-be-rescued-by-a-knight-in-shining-armor thing. (Okay, so she was more apt to curse out the poor sucker until his ears bled, steal said armor and his supplies, and canter off on his chocobo—and then she'd go back out of pity and sling the unfortunate guy onto the back of the chocobo with her. Hey, you couldn't say she didn't have a heart.) Sure, she didn't have a killer supermodel body, either—it could probably be forced out of Zack that he may have had some experience in that area as well. She was all lean muscle and was unafraid to get dirty, but hey, after the past night's events, Zack was pretty sure that those words could take on another meaning _entirely_. Hey, he was a guy, all right? And she was a girl, and her almost purposeful one-eighty from most stereotypes plus her imperfections—because perfection isn't something that exists in people or a lot of other things, not really—were what made her perfect to him.

His eyes trailed down her profile slowly. Her nose was almost sharp, with only a slight bump in it from when she had broken it when she was fourteen. She had once told Zack that it was the least impressive broken-nose-story he'd ever hear: apparently in the midst of a growth spurt-induced bout of clumsiness she had literally tripped straight off her front steps back in Kalm. Devon had ridiculed her for weeks until she finally pushed him down the stairs in retaliation. All he got was a few bruises, including one on his ego.

She always looked like she was on the verge of smirking at some entertaining minutia that the rest of the world had overlooked. Her mouth was usually locked tight as a safe, or on occasion, reminded Zack of a spring about to uncoil to let loose with some snarky comment. But it betrayed a subtle sensitivity that made her seem more vulnerable, rather than naïve or even insecure, with the lower lip slightly fuller than the upper.

Now the set of her jaw, on the other hand—that was pure stubbornness. Hard, defined, and slightly heavy, it betrayed that she wouldn't hesitate to be selflessly analytical, even to the point of ludicrous idiocy. Irrevocably prideful, occasionally rash and even stupid; but it was all willpower all the same. Whether it showed the world an unwillingness to lose, an insatiable need for knowledge, or a sense of defiance brought on by a challenge, Zack was usually reduced to sighing resignedly when he saw the twitch at her jawline start to go.

And as if that weren't enough, her cheekbones were high and defined, giving her an almost regal look of command that she had inherited straight from her mother. Unfortunately, it wasn't always a visible influence—after all, her specialty _was_ subtlety—but when it did come out, people were likely to obey her, even if it did just elevate her barely detectable aura of hubris. Hubris: deadly pride. Few other words could be said to summate her in such accuracy.

And raking from beneath her temple, across her cheekbone and slanting down to end in the flesh just below it, was a pale scar. A fateful caress of destiny that had come in one heck of a ruder manner than that sounded like, as far as Zack was concerned. It gave her character—not that she was apt to blend in, Zack insisted, though he knew she was a natural blender. Him, not so much. Honestly, to any given passerby, even if they did happen to spot the scar, odds were that that would be the only thing they would retain. But it carried much more than its appearance suggested, bearing pain and unfathomable loss—and little did Zack know that he didn't know the half of it. Yet somehow he doubted too many tears had been shed to run over that scar. His eyes drifted to hers, and he halfheartedly hoped she couldn't somehow feel the visual contact.

Her eyelashes weren't dark enough to say so, the same color as her medium-chocolate hair, nor were they longer than average, but they were somehow expressive. That might have had something to do with her eyes themselves.

Gods, her eyes. Now that was one thing that Zack was undeniably grateful for the deranged psychopaths to have messed with. Hey, look for the positives, right? From this angle, they were a pale greenish color, but she was looking downwards, fixated on her fingers folding and unfolding and folding and twisting absently in her lap. If he was looking at her straight on he would guess they were more greenish-blue. He'd figured out most of the changes now, based on emotion as they were. Clever, that; he also considered himself quite perceptive to have deciphered as much as he had. A slightly mossy gray was her natural color, fluctuating almost by the minute between cloudier or greener shades. Most of her iris was gray, but the almost hazel green hid around the pupil, making her normal eye color nearly unclassifiable and indistinguishable. When she got mildly worked up, the gray would take over, and that was usually in the negative direction. Green was positive—green for go. And if they got progressively darker, so help whoever those eyes were fixed on, and once they got to flat onyx black (which was gorgeous and intriguing and captivating and positively freaking terrifying) everyone in the vicinity needed to begin running immediately. And when her eyes were blue…well. Zack almost allowed himself a smirk. He was one of the few people that got to see the blue. The first he saw of it had been when he had kissed her for the first time.

Almost as if she was on the same wavelength, Diana's hands froze in place and she turned to look at him with a slight flush threatening to surface on her cheeks. "Sorry, I was out of it—you say something?" Her curly hair tumbled over her shoulder. It was getting long again, lately. In the sunlight, Zack knew he would be able to see the traces of red, black, and blonde more clearly among the brown.

Zack was taken slightly off guard. "No, I—man, you really were miles away." He gave her that knowing half-smile, for her eyes were indeed green-blue. Hardly aware of what he was saying, he leaned his head back against the wall and commented absently, "You know, I love your eyes. How many times have I told you? 'Cause you really should know that. Really."

Diana chuckled quietly. "I do know. And thank you, and I'm not quite sure. You're rambling, though—what were you thinking about?"

"You," he blurted, then recovered with a smirk. "What else?"

"Oh, get out of here," she scoffed with an irrepressible smile, reaching over to smack the back of his head but instead just ruffling his hair. She pointed at the mug in his hand. "Empty?"

He tilted it slightly and peered inside. "Yup."

"Then I guess it's time to get this show on the road," she sighed, rolling off her side of the bed and standing crookedly. She folded over backwards into half a backbend, her torso twisted to the right, and there was an ominously loud series of pops and cracks. She did it again to the left, and the same thing happened. She groaned quietly and rolled her neck, which emitted three cracks, and swung her arms in a circle a few times, which made it sound like someone was setting off firecrackers.

Zack watched the entire time, initially out of personal interest but now out of a kind of horrid fascination. "Holy crap," he stated, grabbing the two mugs and heading for the kitchen.

"I'm changing—" Diana covered a yawn— "in there." She pointed to the bathroom, retrieved her clothes, and followed where her finger pointed.

Odds were, if 'Devon' wouldn't be training today, 'he' would get sent off on border patrol and would have to make up some more excuses to get someone to come along with her. Ugh. Diana hated the whole I'm-a-wanted-target thing. It was terribly inconvenient. In fact, she almost wished they'd take another swing at her so she could try to pry some information out of one of them that could give her a lead. Unless it was some monster. Funny thing, that; no matter how much you twisted a monster's arm, it just didn't feel like bestowing any knowledge upon you. She pulled on pants and a tank top, figuring she wouldn't stay in them for long. Hopping out of the bathroom on one foot, she attempted to tie one sneaker, and in the process discovered that her head was still slightly sore. She'd have to track down some aspirin back in the dorm. Mako might make the hangovers a lot nicer, but then again, she had drunk enough to kill a human last night.

"I'm just terrible in the morning." Diana pulled a face as her back popped again as she hung over forwards, her nose making contact with her knees. Her hands were flat against the ground, her elbows bent.

"Okay, now that's just not normal," Zack blinked, popping his head out the kitchen door.

"I've got to keep it up," Diana shrugged, sliding into a full split on the floor. "You never know when being too flexible could save your life."

Zack's continued almost compulsive blinking was interrupted by a voice that sounded like it was trying to get through the door purely by force of volume.

"Zaaa-aaaaaack!" it taunted.

"We wanna know what keeps scaring Cloud away from your rooo-oooom!" a second one continued.

"Oh gods," the SOLDIER groaned, mostly to himself.

Diana laughed quietly, then stood and kissed Zack on the cheek. "I'll catch you later, 'kay?"

"What?" he despaired. "You're leaving me with these hooligans knocking on my door?"

"I bet you can handle them," she grinned. "Besides, I've got people to see…people to mock eternally…brothers to harangue…"

He laughed loudly. "Got it. See you later."

"Great." She strode over to the door, from beyond which there were still loud voices yelling over each other, and yanked it open. "Good morning," she greeted the two surprised (but not entirely so) Thirds. "You have reached the residence of Zack Fair. He is not available at this time, but please leave a message while I run. Thank you!" And with that, she dodged between Shane and Max and went rocketing away through the halls of the Shinra buildings, their roars of laughter following her all the way.

* * *

**Wednesday, 28 August, 1515 hours**

Diana casually looked around as if she was examining the billboard advertising _Loveless_, the movie, on the last rooftop before the street dropped off into back ways and lonely, scungy alleys. Yep, he was still following her. She couldn't risk a good, clear look, but she was fairly sure that her stalker was male. Unless, of course, it was actually a female who was as good at disguising herself as Diana was—and that was highly implausible at this point.

She thought back on the image of her follower as she walked, using her visual memory that she had had to develop to the point of a photographic memory to complete her analysis.

Build: something she always had to look into. Normal. A lot could be hiding, though, especially on account of the

Bulky jacket: had a hood that concealed the upper half of his face; possibly also concealing

Weapons: none visible; even if they could do considerable damage, they would have to be relatively small and

Inconspicuous. He was able to go into and out of areas without being seen, like her; could probably easily get through

The crowds of the city were fading, she suddenly noticed as she got farther and farther away from the plaza and main streets. She preferred taking the back way from the SOLDIER dorms to the church, where she had been visiting today just on a whim. Since she was very clearly female at the moment, she hadn't seen much of the Shinra Glare today—she had even visited some of the families living near the church that she had gotten to know.

Some of the buildings were getting shorter now, and the people less frequent. A homeless man sat on the steps of a ramshackle building that looked more like a warehouse than a home way off ahead of her, hunched over. Diana's mouth tightened. Would it kill them to do something about the quality of living in the "city of dreams"?

Okay, he wasn't even bothering to be subtle now._ And call me paranoid, but I don't exactly think he wants to ask directions to the nearest donut shop. Call me even more paranoid, and I'd say that I'm probably not such a random target, either._

Suddenly, there came the additional sound of running footsteps from a side alley. Well, shit. Another one? A dual attack? If someone was just trying to mug her elaborately, then hell, she didn't exactly look rich, but she would also not be very happy about it and wouldn't be particularly inclined to clemency. Diana exhaled hard, then turned and sucked in as much air as she could so she could yell as loudly as possible in intimidation when she socked the bastard in the—

"HEYYYY DI! What're you doing here?"

Well, what she _wasn't_ doing was punching anyone anywhere; instead of being attacked in the traditional manner, she was being picked up and swung around by an overenthusiastic Puppy.

"Oh my gods, Zack—" she gasped as he set her on the ground again, grinning like a maniac. "You know I almost just decked you, right?" Dear Goddess; she wasn't even going to try to pretend that it was going to take a second for her adrenal glands to calm down and her heart rate to slow back down to normal. (Which, incidentally, was so low that most people would consider her practically dead. That was what she got for being in SOLDIER shape.)

"Eh? Aw, no big deal, wouldn't be the first time," he pointed out, taking her hand.

"True," she sighed, smiling with some degree of relief. "And I love you, but you have got to have _the worst_, most unfortunate timing," she continued, still smiling, as she steered him down the street again. They were still being followed, and now her smile was forced.

"Stalker?" Zack asked grimly, keeping a slap-happy grin on his angular face.

"Yup. And I hardly think he wants a lunch date," she replied, grinding her back teeth together.

"Well, that'd just be plain unacceptable in the first place!" Zack stated indignantly.

"Zack!" she hissed. "Call me paranoid, but for once please be serious!"

"All right, all right, I see your point. Keep that smile on," he grinned falsely. "Wouldn't want to look suspicious, now would we?"

"Why, of course not, darling," she giggled.

"Okay, now you're bordering on just plain terrifying."

Zack was about to ask something, but he was interrupted. The two were walking by the spot where the homeless man sat on the step, almost seeming to shrink in on himself, when he suddenly sprang up into a fighting stance with a cry. There were similar shouts from all around, and as Diana started slightly, they were suddenly surrounded by a dozen men, all dressed the same—and a good part of their upper faces were still covered.

_How?_ was Zack's first curious thought. _Our senses have been wide open for the past minute—and hers for longer. Ten men don't appear out of_

_Thin air. Air. Invisible. Simulations? But that's illogical; those don't work outside the sims rooms, and in the first place we'd need the visors to alter our_

_Vision. The product of some advanced smoke and mirrors? They look awfully solid—but is that only part of the_

_Game? Who are the players, and who's pulling the strings, that's what I want to_

_Know! If these are only fabricated puppets, then who's the puppeteer—and where in Gaia is he_

_Hiding? More of them around? If these got here so fast and without us noticing that—_

_They all look the same. Not identical, not Di and Dev, but weirdly close, while we're on the topic of fabrication. Made like—_

"Like machines," Diana whispered, just loud enough for Zack to hear her. He didn't dare look at her quizzically, but instead stared more intently at the men around them, studying them in a new way. "They move like machines—" Diana continued— "look how they're standing, how they hold themselves."

"They don't look…natural," Zack murmured in agreement, casting looks everywhere around him while shifting his footing slightly. "Human in form inside and out, yes—but not normal." _And those hoods—what's with that? If you're going to attack someone, sure, hide your identity, whatever, but you need to be able to see, too…_

And then, as one, the hoods came off.

Diana couldn't help inhaling hard through her nose, nearly choking herself.

"But—there _are_ no renegade SOLDIERs—" Zack began muttering quickly, his brain going into overdrive trying to rule out the impossible but having nothing left to work with.

"Then what do you propose we call these?" Diana replied.

Mako eyes, twenty-four of them, stared back at the four belonging to the two in the center of their circle.

**A/N: WHAT IS GOING ON right? ! Hehehe, don't worry, all answers in time... I did enjoy my little bout of fluffiness as well ^^ It was quite fun. So uh, I tried something new - the little thought processes that connect into each other, yeah, those. If anyone has an opinion, I was trying to replicate the actual thought process, so do you think it worked the right way? :) thanks. SO. In order to avoid getting attacked, I might get one more chapter off after this before next Saturday, just so you don't all kill me for leaving you with this total cliffhanger, but after that it'll be about two weeks before I can update again 8( But it'll be okay :) Next chapter is very action-y! Thank you all for reading and please review with thoughts! :D**


	47. Priorities Change

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Just 'cause I'm on time doesn't mean I'm being funded or whatever by the rightful owners! What am I, predictably unpredictable? ! ... Oh, wait.**

**A/N: Well, heh! Here I am! As promised ^^ See, I can be truthful about the updates once in a while! What. I see that look you're giving me. Yeah. That's right. THAT ONE. Always the look of surprise... Heck, I really did go for the cliffhanger, didn't I? :D I love doing that, I'm not going to lie. This chapter's very action-y. Best kind, clearly! I was listening to Daft Punk's "Derezzed" from Tron: Legacy while writing a lot of this...yeah... (In my opinion, best song on the soundtrack, not to mention the best scene in the movie.) Lots of things breaking and people attacking and collateral damage that someone's gonna have to pay for, 'cause, heck, I'm only the authoress, not the head of Urban Development - oh, wait, does that mean I just doomed Reeve to weeks of filling out paperwork on the mysterious damage in the slums of Sector Six...hmmmm... Well, I have to warn you, this whole episode goes on for several chapters due to the drama and action of it all :D And I really like this whole fiasco. SO. Read on, enjoy, and review please! :D**

**Chapter 47: Priorities Change**

And then, as one, the hoods came off.

Diana couldn't help inhaling hard through her nose, nearly choking herself.

"But—there _are_ no renegade SOLDIERs—" Zack began muttering quickly, his brain going into overdrive trying to rule out the impossible but having nothing left to work with that hadn't been eliminated.

"Then what do you propose we call these?" Diana replied.

Mako eyes, twenty-four of them, stared back at the four belonging to the two in the center of their circle.

"Considering they're doing some serious provoking here, I say we cut to the chase and call them enemies," Zack reasoned grimly, trying to breathe normally. Those couldn't just be contact lenses. But he would be one of the first to know if there were renegade SOLDIERs out there, and there hadn't been more than a few individuals that either snapped or couldn't take it for years. Whoever these people were, whatever they were, they would have to be fought with however much force was necessary.

"That's a good start. All we have to do is wait for them to—well, there you go," Diana remarked nonchalantly as the men simultaneously drew their weapons. They looked somewhat similar, though not as much as she had originally assumed—it was just that they were all generic and not particularly memorable—but their weapons, at least, were varied. A few carried short swords, most had guns, and nearly all of them had knives and a few throwing weapons meant for a slightly longer range. One even had a dangerous-looking mace and chain that looked more like the weapon of a Summon than that of a human. Diana tried not to think of snipers—heck, at this point, that would practically be cheating—and forced herself to focus on the seven or so men that were in her convenient field of vision. She and Zack were now back-to-back, the faint wind that was channeled down the street blowing her ponytail so that it brushed against the back of Zack's neck. Diana had a sudden thought that was inappropriate for the time, but still kind of funny: she prayed he wasn't too ticklish, or at least not when his adrenaline was going. And going it was.

Then, all at once, an invisible signal was given, and two of the men charged—at least, at Diana. She assumed Zack would have gotten two as well, when she thought it over later. Their peripherals overlapped by several yards, and she almost winced when the first blow she heard came from behind her. She also assumed that Zack would be beating the living crap out of the unfortunate, unsuspecting guys who had been pitted against him. This, however, when she thought it over later, was almost humorous in its inaccuracy.

But there would of course be time for that later—and sooner than she thought.

The two men were advancing on her, fast, with only a few yards to cover to close the distance. Fighting multiples was tough, especially with an approach as systematic as this one. Her only advantage was knowing what the strategy's ultimate objective would be: to kill her, and probably Zack as well, either as a witness or as someone close to her. She didn't imagine they'd care very much either way. It looked like the idea was to go through as many operatives as it took to finish the two of them off, and it also looked like there would be active substitutions. It was almost like a game: one player gets injured, a new one steps in. Being outnumbered six to one, it didn't look great going in.

However, attacking all at once would be impractical. It would be of almost no use to have a bunch of people going at a single person—odds were, they would just get in each other's ways, and the victim would be able to do collective damage too easily. With one-on-one, it would be like a series of duels, only just the one side would be switched up every time one of the players went down. The other side would be, in a word, screwed; not to mention probably literally exhausted to death. Not only that, but whoever wasn't engaged in battle would have a prime opportunity to examine the fighting style, strengths, and weaknesses of the person they would be going up against. It was like going on display but really just trying to stay alive, only to have the other side have a massive head start for the next round.

But with two-on-one, well… Three was bordering on the disadvantages of the all-out tactic, but with two, the attack was more powerful, the strategies were more flexible, and the one on the other side couldn't afford to focus on anything else.

_Damn, they _are_ smart,_ was Diana's last grim thought before tensing into battle mode.

Behind her, Zack yelled, "Come and get it!"

_My thoughts exactly._

The men who were rushing her came from eleven and one o'clock, respectively, both swinging for her shoulders with short swords. Compared to the weapons of SOLDIERs, these were midgets, and when one brought Angeal's meat cleaver into the comparison these were mere toothpicks; but they were still solid, not to mention sharp. Diana drew a knife from its sheath on her thigh and blocked one, pivoting backwards out of reach of the other for a second—but the first kept coming. She put extra strength into the guard, because _he was still swinging_.

She couldn't push the blade away like she should have been able to even with only a knife, but she managed it in another fraction of a second. The fractions counted, though, so the second one was coming back around for another blow. She swore as she ducked, pushing off on her hands to kick a foot backwards and up into his abdomen in a kind of half a handstand, and swung her left leg around to hopefully slam the other guy in the ribs. She was nearly parallel to the ground, her only contact with it being her planted right hand. But the second man had grabbed her by the ankle as her first leg lingered in the air where his stomach had been, and her second blow was inaccurate.

Her foot glanced off around the back of the first's hip, whacking him in the small of his back. He was still struck slightly off balance by its pure power, and Diana took the opportunity to free her right leg by grabbing onto his sword arm to drag herself up while levering all her weight down on her leg; the one with the grip on her leg had been expecting her to kick upwards, and lost his hold in surprise. Having hauled his sword arm nearly all the way to the ground—again, the product of doing the unexpected—she dropped her left leg to the ground and brought her now-freed foot all the way up her body along the ground in a lunge to step on the flat of the blade. She twisted her hold on his arm, and he yelled it pain. Hopefully, she had at least broken his wrist.

Diana brought her left leg through past her right, and kept going, lurching back into a vertical plane and pushing off the first man hard to send herself flying towards the second one, twisting in the air to face him. He never even saw the deadly fist coming for his trachea, and she barely avoided his swinging sword in the same movement. It still scraped across her upper arm, leaving a bright red line: a parting gift before he took flight into the wall of the nearest building, leaving a crater in the old wood and plaster.

"Someone just lost their living room wall!" she yelled offhandedly to Zack. She heard him bark a laugh.

"Yeah, and someone just lost their _dignity_!" he crowed. Diana couldn't see him, but he had just grabbed a guy by the ankle and whipped him around like a helicopter blade, taking out one of his comrades along the way.

The one now behind Diana was coming for her with his bare hands and favoring one arm, as she saw out of the corner of her left eye, and she turned to pitch a kick up under his jaw. His head snapped back and she flipped him clear over backwards by his feet, and landing on his neck put him down for the count if her kick hadn't already.

_Two down. Next?_ But even as she thought this, she had another, troubling thought. That first blow. The shoulder, elbow, or wrist of a normal human could have shattered with the combined impact of his downstroke and her block, but his sword had just _kept coming_. It was almost unfathomable to her. She had had to put extra effort into stopping the swing, and while it was true that she hadn't properly gauged its force at first, that was saying something. Those mako eyes weren't just for show; these men had the strength of SOLDIERs.

And where the hell was that idea even _going_?

A third man came at her, a fourth close behind. The third had a gun that he had apparently given up on as far as traditional use went; he was holding it like a bludgeon, butt end up. (Diana had concluded that if there were indeed snipers around, she and Zack would have both been dead by now. Speaking of Zack, he seemed to be doing about the same as she was.)

"Whoo! We've got a violation of conventional weapons usage over here!" she raised her voice in his general direction.

"How bad?" he yelled back.

"Clubbing technique, reminiscent of a crowbar!" was her response before she had to engage.

She knew that she had to do it carefully, because a bad hold could break her wrists, but she grabbed for the gun with both hands as it came towards her, its owner apparently hell-bent on smashing her head in. Her fingers wrapped around it, her wrists bent back, and she yanked up as his momentum carried him forward. She had had to develop strong, flexible joints, and her wrists snapped forward so that his were in turn hyperextended back and he was forced to release the metal by reflex. At the same time, she drove her right leg, her strong leg, up like she was about to knee him in the crotch.

This, however, was not completely her intention, although it did come about this way, just as a result of the objective of the maneuver. The idea was to get close enough in to the opponent so that she caught him between the legs with a thigh, but with so much force that there was the brief slam of impact before he was lifted and _thrown_ several feet up and back. (It did help that he was male. Normally, she wouldn't consider herself a cruel enough person to inflict such pain in that area, but when people were blatantly trying to kill you, well, your priorities had a tendency to change.) He did manage to kick her on the way, though, and her knee nearly caved.

The fourth one had gotten closer in the second or two that it had taken her to handle the third, and this one—oh, holy shitsky with a pickle on top.

He had a gun as well…and the fifth was the one with the mace. She didn't see any large weapons in the fourth's hands, but she figured that could easily change. His arms were powerful, and it looked like he would be coming at her with his fists. But it was strange, because he seemed almost unsure on his feet, as though he was a man crippled in an accident and learning to walk again.

There wasn't any more time for Diana to consider the reasons for that one, and she had to make a decision at the moment.

Instinctively, she found the best solution to taking him out quickly so she could face the mace guy unhindered to be targeting his seemingly weak area. But that would put her on the ground, and if she misjudged the timing or a move didn't go as planned, she would still be on the ground when the fifth reached her, not to mention she would be a perfect sitting target for a heavy iron ball on a chain.

But the guy looked like he knew way too well what he was doing with those fists of his, and Diana wasn't particularly fond of the idea of being locked in a handhold while the mace man was still charging. So she made her decision.

He took two hook swings, right and then left, and she swerved and swooped out of the way. To a bystander, it would have looked like his fists went straight through her because they were both moving so fast. He came at her again, but she delayed further, dancing backwards and spending more time in the air than she did in contact with the ground. She even threw in a back handspring, and when he made a grab for her when she came back up, she fell to the ground, swinging her legs up and using her hands and shoulders as pivot points as she spun continually. It was something she had learned from some of the boys in the Sector Five slums who carried a boombox around and did these kinds of stunts trying to earn a few gil.

"Ohhh, how ya like _that_?" she taunted him, causing a vein to start pulsing harder in his forehead. Clearly he liked to be the one calling the shots in combat.

"Not so great a dancer, is he?" Zack added insult to injury. Apparently he had caught a glimpse of her maneuvers.

"Nope, and I feel like he isn't one to learn—" Diana replied before the enemy sprung a new weapon of his own on her.

Dang, she must really be pissing him off now—okay, yeah, especially judging by the _freaking machete_ he'd just produced out of _freaking nowhere_—

She executed a last spin, once again just out of reach no matter what level he attacked her at, and as she kicked to her feet she lashed out at the back of his nearest knee with a knife that was, granted, intended for throwing. It worked, and she stabbed him again in the foot as he stumbled—_thrust, twist, retract_: that was always the motto at cadet practice—and he yelled in pain as his leg crumpled beneath him. For good measure, as she turned to face her next attacker, she pushed off his stomach for leverage to leap at number five. She let go of the knife as she streaked through the air for a fraction of a second, as it would be of no use here.

There wasn't any time to delay; she had to get in close, and quick, so he couldn't use that damn thing effectively. It was already starting to swing, going back and about to come forward. She essentially body-slammed him, probably bruising her ribs, and drove her fist up like a wrecking train, literally trying to smash the bones of his nose up into his brain.

But she forgot about the arm that wasn't holding the mace. He knocked her off balance even as his head snapped back and blood was choked from his mouth, but she still should have been able to duck. His mace arm stopped with shock, but the laws of inertia posed a problem.

Problem was, the mace was still swinging, and it ended its journey with a

**_CRACK._**

* * *

It wasn't like she could form a coherent thought in the iotas of time in between realizing the impact and what that meant and losing to the blackness. Her only remotely translatable feeling was an offended,_ I can't die while _unconscious_!_

* * *

Paaaaainpainpainpain her HEAD, it _hurt_ and

Yell ing? **Fight** aNgr Y shOUTing guns/no guns I-know that **voice** wherewhyhow

"DON'T TOUCH HER!"

_I know_ that **voice** whowhere**ME**.

Some-one-**voice** heIhim _whY_me _SLAM_ he-and-I but _whY_we **US**.

**Us** himIknowhim can'T sEE **black**why_white_ p a i n he is SHOUTing hands-head _in my_ PAIN redYELLowblue_sEE_**black**green-purple-bluegray_blueviolet_

**ZACK**.

HIM ME WE US shOUTing his **voice** p a i n _eyes won't_ opencan'tsee _white_why**black** RED shoot ing yell guns-no-guns fight un pro tect ed _whymewhere_ can't see **him** nEEdtofINdsEE **never** PAIN _going out_ again ScrEAmINgvisioN _blurring_ NO blind bluegreenviolet _blue eyes_ nEEd to **SEE** HIM…

_Dear gods don't take him away, please, no…_

* * *

Holy _holy_ it hurt. It hurt again it hurt it hurt and why was there

Light, there was too much of it even though her eyes were closed to the

What was around her? It hurt it hurt too much to see can't remember but there were noises and oh Goddess don't give me

People can't sound this angry in heaven, it wouldn't be right, and things were opening and closing and yelling and OPENING and closing again and then wood STEPS head hurts and still can't see blackinwhite whiteinblack and then

Nothing again.

* * *

Diana managed not to groan in pain.

_Not dead…not dead._

Not dead? That was an improvement—right? She did know from experience that pain usually equaled still alive.

But her eyes…they hurt, her skull was killing her, and she prayed that the lingering warmth wasn't blood back there, although it probably was…

Damn, it was bright. She wanted to try to see but she was afraid her eyes might just burn up, and besides…

Oh, dear Goddess in heaven and on earth, where was she?

_Don't open your eyes, stupid. Even if you aren't blind or some shit, what if there's someone right there waiting for you to show a sign that you aren't dead?_ She began to panic slightly at this thought, with images of people staring at her, right next to her, beside her, inches in front of her face and she couldn't see them — but that wasn't logical. No; she would have sensed anything nearby. She had to calm down, had to keep herself from descending into a state of incoherent strings and threads of senses again. Breathing. Focus on the breathing.

_Think. What do I know?_

Her first thought of knowing: _Ow._ Second: _ZACK. Zackzackzackzack what have I dragged you into?_ What if he had ended up just like her? Or—no. They couldn't have gotten him, too. That wasn't possible. Whether in her mind, or in actual plausible reality, she wasn't quite sure.

_When I've lost a sense…I have to use my others._

Okay. Right. She already knew that. She could work with that. She just had to make sure to show no visible signs of consciousness. Better to appear half dead than to get that way, although she was pretty sure that she was fairly far along that road already, even with the mako healing her minor injuries and doing what it could for the bigger ones. Like her skull.

Well, for one thing, her hands and feet were tied. It looked like "they" weren't taking any chances with her, because her bonds seemed to be cordlike fibers instead of rope or metal. Metal could be warped and broken and slipped out of because of its uniform shape and consistency, and rope, well, people always seemed to get out of those in the movies without too much trouble.

She also noted with amusement that they were smart, to some extent. They did know her. Rather than have her hands behind her back, rendering them nearly useless but invisible to everyone else, they were tied in front of her, where someone could see if she tried anything.

_Let's see. What else?_

Her ears— _Oh, stupid_— Of course; she had to use her ears. Now that the pounding headache had been accepted by her consciousness, she realized that there wasn't even all that much light in wherever she was after all. An area located in the back of the brain controls the ophthalmic functions, and being knocked there must have been what had sent Diana's eyes on a joyride to hell. The light seemed to be concentrated in certain areas, judging by the glow that she (not a normal human) could detect through her eyelids, suggesting a window or two. And as soon as she really started paying attention, things started coming through.

Vehicles. Very faint, but the sounds of the city were there. The city? It couldn't have been all that long since she was knocked out—she wasn't sore yet, just injured; and still in the process of actively healing, no less. Well, that was something, if they were still in Midgar.

'They'… She was reminded again of Zack. What did they do with him? They wouldn't just kill him…right? He should have put up an even better fight than she had—but she had left him up against all the rest of those men, including the one with the mace. She resisted the urge to growl. She was going to get that one, and get him good… At least, if she could tell which one he was. It seemed more and more creepy how starkly similar in their normalcy the men looked. That wasn't the natural way of things—and doztuplets seemed to her to come under the category of Ludicrously Unlikely.

Maybe they would use him. Bait. Ransom. Persuasion. Threats. Insurance of her compliance, or of anyone else's, for that matter. She didn't want to think about any more uses.

A couple small animals. A mouse, maybe, in the far wall, which sounded like it was somewhere between fifteen and twenty feet away. The walls perpendicular to the one she was propped up against were ten to fifteen feet away each, as far as she could tell. There was a window in the left wall that the air was whistling past, but judging by the deflection of the wind and the lack of most of the sunlight that should be coming in (even though the slums were a little dark, this was ridiculous) it was at least partially boarded up.

It smelled of mildew, wood, and dust. There was the distinctive odor of Midgar's city grime mixed with the byproducts of mako reactions, so being outside the city was way out of the question at this point. Wait—if she was indeed still in the slums, who was to say they hadn't moved her any more than a block? It was unlikely, but she had basically walked right into their trap, after all. Not to mention brought Zack along for the ride. Diana almost smirked._ I bet they were just _overjoyed_ about a First Class SOLDIER to deal with._ Maybe they just needed time to, say, cover their tracks? Zack had definitely thrown someone into a wall earlier, as had she, and she was sure there would be some more serious collateral damage that could easily be connected to any lucky (or unlucky) eyewitness' account.

But what if someone _had_ seen them? Considering it was the slums, there was a good chance that whoever might have seen the attack would have run, attributing it to a gang conflict or something just better left alone. But there was always a chance that someone could have recognized Diana, or Zack, or the sight of them together. Which, incidentally, might have led to thoughts similar to "damn Shinra scum *%($ let them &%$#ing die in !&%," but hey, there was always hope, right?

It also smelled of blood. Her own blood, actually, considering she knew by now that she was in fact bleeding (shock.) Besides, she probably wouldn't have been able to extend her nasal sensitivities too much farther than the limits of this room for a scent so subtle.

And she also heard footsteps, ascending what sounded like rapidly deteriorating, creaky wooden stairs, approaching—holy mother of Gaia, they were approaching the door. Said door must be almost straight across the room from her, judging by the destination of the steps—and there went the sounds of keys. Okay, so she was locked in. No deadbolt—just the latch on the doorknob, or if the lock was old, the keyhole beneath it. Good. Easy to break through by force. But the door sounded heavy when her visitor turned the knob and pushed it open. Another person was behind the first, having just come up the stairs as well.

"Still alive?" The voice belonging to the one who opened the door asked with a trace of humorless amusement. It was male—what a shock. _It must be one of the survivors—hell, they even sound generic!_

"Of course she is," snorted the second, pushing past the first. "It's harder to knock one of these down than that. You were lucky, Eight, clubbing her like that. Practically cheated."

_The mace guy. "Eight"? He almost said it…almost like a name. Oh dear Gaia no, please don't be some botched experiments fabricated in human form who were given supernatural abilities and have numbers instead of names—jeez, and everyone always said I read too much as a kid._

_Sad thing is, that could easily be true._

"How rude. I never cheat." The first one, "Eight", apparently, sounded mock offended.

"Naturally. Well, what of her? Conscious yet, you think?" The second unnamed one inquired, approaching like Diana was some kind of wild animal that might or might not still be sleeping. Not so far from the truth.

"Hm. We'll see. She's gotta be awake soon if she isn't already. With systems like hers, she shouldn't be out for more than fifteen."

Diana's heart leapt in her chest, though she continued to breathe deeply and evenly, and she hoped that they weren't paying close enough attention to hear the disrupted thump. So she hadn't missed anything! If only her luck was liable to stretch so far as to make their tongues slip something about their location. Yeah, if only.

"Well, if she isn't faking now, I say it's time to wake up," the second one ordered contemptuously.

"I agree," leered Eight, taking the three more strides that would carry him to Diana's side. Her head was turned to the side, away from him, and she couldn't decide if that was a good or a bad thing as she fought to keep her eyelids from twitching.

"I know you're awake," he whispered coarsely, and Diana had to fight her own body again as it tried to flinch away, to recoil from his hovering posture crouched next to her.

Well, shrink back first, at least. Then hit. Hard. She knew he was bluffing. He would have reacted differently, hit her already, or something, if he was really a good deal more than ten percent sure.

"You think they made her all pretty? Or was that just nature?" he turned to his companion again. Diana almost ground her teeth together. _You're kidding me, right? You are _not_ going there, buddy._

"I say she gets it from her parents," responded the second one. "See, I, unlike you, saw those case files earlier." There was a hint of a smirk in his voice.

"Yeah, well, I, unlike you, had some important things to be doing at the time," countered Eight. "Stuff needs doing, you know—I keep telling 'em that half of us are getting lazy."

Diana suddenly sensed the air moving in to occupy a space that had recently been vacated by an arm that was whooshing back and was likely to come forward again with a lot more force. _Crap, you touch me and I swear to all that's holy I will—_

He was continuing, cutting off her rather violent mental threats. "…Stuff like waking up captives that'll stop pretending and come along without a struggle if they know what's good for 'em—especially women."

_ALL RIGHT, THAT'S IT_. As soon as she heard the whoosh again, her eyes snapped open of their own accord, immediately fixed on her captor's eyes. "And yet I, unlike most, will presently have the pleasure of kicking your ass," she rasped, though nonetheless scathingly.

His hand jerked slightly, indicating a suppressed jump, and his arm stopped swinging. "Well well well," he grinned menacingly. "Knew you were faking, girlie."

"Bullshit," she scoffed, still moving nothing but her mouth while she talked, and he was starting to laugh incredulously when there was suddenly a large crash from somewhere. Diana assumed it was from outside the building or in another one, as she wasn't picking up on any vibrations in the room.

"Aw, hell…" he complained. "Five, go check that out, would you? I've got this under control."

"Sure thing." The second—well, "Five," actually, which confirmed the number thing—walked out and trotted down the stairs briskly, closing the door behind him.

"Don't you worry—probably just your boyfriend causing a ruckus again." The grin had returned. "Troublesome son of a bitch, don't you think?"

"What does that make you, an obnoxious son of a bitch? Oh, but I forgot—you twelve wouldn't be anyone's sons, would you?" she lashed back, turning to shoot a near-black glare at him. The insult was ironic, in a way. Diana never forgot that one of her best friends had been tormented his entire life for being a fatherless bastard, and always watched her words and the words of others. But Cloud was only human, and so was his absent father. Humans erred and made bad choices that caused bad results and bad experiences. And then there were some humans who apparently tried to play God and created men who were the sons of literally nothing but test tubes and artificial energy in order to create beings that shouldn't exist. That was the difference.

"My, my, the hostage is the aggressive type," he leered, still too close and evidently unfazed. "That's okay—I like 'em with some fight." And then he got waaaay too close.

Diana didn't like the direction this was going, and she _really_ didn't like where his hands were thinking about going. He was getting a look on his face that she didn't often get from males and had definitely not seen on Zack before, and it was freaking creepy and she began to panic slightly on the inside. Then something took over: maybe an instinct, or maybe it was just the result of the culmination of her indignation at being a hostage and not knowing what was happening.

_Oh HELL. NO. You do NOT cross that goddamn freaking line._

She tried to shove at him when he was still only centimeters away, the muscles around her eyes contorted in rage, but she had forgotten that her hands were bound, and trapped against her side. So she simply put her resources to use with what had been given to her.

She gave a muffled shriek of protest and bit him in the face.

She was almost surprised that her teeth hadn't gone all the way through his bottom lip, but his strangled-sounding yell was satisfying, and she held on like a Rottweiler when he swatted at her, trying to shake her off.

In another two seconds he had flailed and jabbed her straight in the solar plexus by sheer luck, and she grunted softly in pain as she slammed back into the wall, seeing tiny starbursts in from of her eyes. Damn, that wasn't gonna help the whole eye thing. Still, she glared up at him, her bound hands shaking with indignant rage. "I don't think so," she spat. "You're gonna cross that goddamn line? Because I'm a girl? Or is that your M.O. for everyone you cheat at capturing?" she taunted, and was rewarded.

He scowled and leapt for her throat; at least, until her legs came up and slammed into his stomach, forcibly bending him almost in half. The shackles on her ankles, unlike those on her wrists, were connected by a cable chain that was about a foot long: not long enough for her to be mobile, but long enough to get around someone's neck.

At least, that was how she saw it.

She couldn't stay on the defensive forever, though, so she tried to get out of the fight. It was against all the things inside her that were expressing a vehement desire to send him through the ceiling and beyond, but it just wasn't logical to try to do that while handicapped and very much alone.

"So that's the ingenioius plan? 'Kill the hostage'?" she mocked, watching as he backed up a few steps and recovered. She really hoped she'd gotten a rib or two, regenerative powers or no. "Doesn't seem like you'd be making too many of your superiors happy."

"How do you know we didn't just bring you here to kill you anyway?" he retorted.

She resisted the urge to brag that she knew they hadn't moved more than four blocks, but that would be revealing that she wasn't clueless, and that was usually a bad idea when you were a captive. "Because if that was the case, you would've stuck a bag over my head and told half a dozen guys to load, aim, and fire minutes ago. Isn't that right? Besides, it would've been a lot easier while I was unconscious," she reasoned. "Now, on the other hand, if _I_ had a gun…" she mused to herself, and just as the word "shoot" popped into a sentence of her little point-three-seconds long internal monologue, a shot did indeed ring out.

She was so used to gunfire that the sound wasn't what fazed her, but rather the incongruity. Her first reaction was an expectance of pain, along with the feeling of being pissed that he'd cheated _again_ and had had a weapon on him anyhow. But no pain came, and he wasn't holding a gun.

And besides, the shot had blown through the floor straight between her splayed feet at an angle. Straight through the only thing holding her back: the chain connecting the shackles around her ankles.

She didn't really even comprehend or think about the half a face that she could see through the gap between the doorframe and the slightly ajar door, or the fact that it belonged to a body which included an arm which ended in a hand and fingers that were grasping a gun that let off a tiny wisp of smoke. All she knew was that she could move now.

He—Eight—on the other hand, looked up in mild horror just a little too late. He caught a glimpse of a positively evil grin before a foot was in his face, knocking him backwards.

Diana kept spinning with her momentum, switching feet smoothly, and came around to strike him again with the heel of her left foot before planting that leg and coming up with a neat snap kick for the second time with her right. She made him fly all the way to the wall with the last one, and for part of a second she had time to strategize. It seemed like a lot of her work was done in the air, and that wasn't exactly easy to pull off with the confinement of a seven-and-a-half-foot ceiling. Factor that in along with the bound hands and this could get delicate. But hell, at least she could use her lower half!

"You're handicapped—you'll never win this one, girlie," Eight tried to sound confident as he picked his way out of the wall (which was now dented and dangerously splintered) but the slight hacking around his laugh betrayed the growing tally of damaged areas of his body.

"Oh, yeah? Don't you know what I am?" she demanded.

He looked mildly confused and tried to come up with another retort at the same time, but she was in front of him all too fast, vaulting off her joint hands to slam him towards the boarded-up window with both feet. _Time to see how high up we are!_ she thought with perverse cheerfulness. And with that, she kneed him in the stomach, brought her clasped hands down on the back of his neck, and kicked him clear through the wooden boards to plummet towards the ground. She cautiously checked her surroundings as she stuck her head out the window—_aw, man, only three stories? Ugh. Whatever._ He was motionless, though maybe not dead, on the hard pavement of the street.

"I'm a SOLDIER," Diana whispered.

And she turned from the window to stare down the barrel of a forty-five caliber pistol.

**A/N: AAAACK suspense again! *hehe* Fsssshh, nooo, I totally didn't plan for a whole chain of cliffies all in a row, nope, no way (WHOSE CHAIR IS THAT?) Hahahaha if you got that reference stick it in your review and I'll give you a chapter dedication xD plus encouragement to go make yourself a batch of cookies (because lighthouses rule - you don't like the lighthouse, you suck.) Yeah, that was clue number two. WELL off the topic of youtube madness, speaking of numbers... Creepy, right? ! Personally I found the OH HELL NO quite gratifying :) Except that Diana's now standing there getting her forehead intimately acquainted with the schnoz of a gun (that was a technical term right there, cue the sarcasm.) Sooo things will be explained, I believe next chapter (mostly at least) which will provide a lot of conversation and a few aha moments. But they're mostly aha moments for me because I'm making my plot work better xD And you wonderful people won't understand the total significance of everything until a bit later on. This is where the details become important. o.o Such mystery! But until next time, my lovelies: review, speculate, and keep an eye out for updates! :D And keep on being beautiful ^^**


	48. Unreal But Not Impossible

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: HAHA! Uh yeah no.**

**A/N: AH my whole A/N just went away 8( damn you, random login requirement. Well I'm exhausted, but in short, I apologize, my schedule's crammed as I'm away from home, spending time with friends I see for a month each year, and working part-time (it's a party xD). I'm trying to not disappear, and hopefully I'll be back soon - but thanks for sticking with me, and please enjoy! Oh and also: DISCLAIMER: NOT MINE in reference to the following excerpt from a Maximum Ride novel by James Patterson, the ingenious author whose series you should all read :D I love Max Ride, they're awesome books - read them too many times to count. But, it's appropriate, and you'll realize the connection :) I LOVE the last line, just btw. AND there are significant answers-slash-the beginnings to them this chapter! :D Little action, but that will come. (Hehehehehe. Most definitely.) So read on, and enjoy...**

"Irrelevant," the head jumped in dismissively. "His programming should compel him to use any means available. Possibly a minor malfunction," she speculated, dropping the tech's notes on the desk. "But possibly a major one. Keep an especially close eye on that one's stats." She swiveled on her heel and in a flash was gone.  
The tech bit her lip. The heads—as intimately familiar with the details of their constructions as they were—somehow all seemed to forget that the subjects were not, in fact, robots.  
There was no malfunction. It was simply that the soul could not be programmed.  
- _Fang_, a Maximum Ride novel by James Patterson

**Chapter 48: Unreal But Not Impossible**

And she turned from the window to stare down the barrel of a forty-five caliber pistol.

She blinked. "Well, shit."

An eyebrow was raised. Slightly; only by a tiny twitch of the facial muscles. "I was expecting something a little more eloquent than that. Although I suppose it would be an accurate summation of the moment." His straight face didn't crack or waver in the slightest, and his extended arm barely moved with a finger on the safety of the gun.

_Damn, he's good. And it sounds like he at least knows his way around a dictionary. More so than Eight, at least. Jerkwad._ "Apologies. My mouth partially loses motor control sometimes. So I take it you're Five? I hope that's not on a power scale of some kind, 'cause in that case I'd hate to meet One."

He lifted his head ever so slightly. "I am indeed Five. And that's just in order of creation." Again with the expressionless face. It was starting to get unnerving, especially because he was indeed an experiment. Assuming he wasn't lying. "So no worries."

She snorted inelegantly. "'No worries'? Jeez, they engineer the sense for self-preservation out of you like they engineered the judgment out of Eight?"

He raised both his eyebrows then, leveling a look at Diana. "You're questioning _my_ senses of self-preservation?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, you're the one who went and shot off my chains. How'd that turn out for your comrade?"

"Granted, he _was_ being foolish—" he muttered, looking disapproving.

"No crap he was," she snorted back. "So he deserved it, is that what you're—" she started to demand, getting rared up for a good lecture on camaraderie - enemy or not, she was of the opinion that there just was no excuse for the violation of certain ideals - when the static of a two-way radio interrupted her.

"_Five? Come in, Five. You still on location? Fi_—"

He snatched the radio off his belt in irritation and jammed down a button with his thumb. "Would you calm _down_, Ten? Yes, I'm still on location."

"_Status?_"

"We had a minor…conflict. The girl woke up."

Diana snickered quietly with pride at the realization of exactly how much of a problem that simple sentence constituted.

He went on, still pointing the gun at Diana, but now his hand was half-slack. Pretty careless, considering. She might be able to disarm him if she put in the effort. But no. It wasn't worth it. Not yet. "You might want to check the ground around the building, I think on the east side."

"_Why's that? Stray evidence?_"

"… What the hell made you think it was a good idea for Eight to play babysitter?" he nearly sighed, posing the question as a response.

"… _I see. Was that the source of the…conflict?_"

"That would be it. He was reckless and is currently unconscious at the least. Whatever, just get him off the street."

"_Right away. Thirteen and I are on it."_

"Quickly. And I've got this all back under control here. The girl's been subdued."

"_Very good._"

He shut the radio off again and hooked it back on his belt, rolling his eyes. "Acts like a frickin' old man," he grumbled. "All right, sit down; we have to make it look like I defeated you and all that prisoner shit." He dropped his gun hand and slid the pistol into its holster, waving her towards the wall where she'd been sitting before.

Diana blinked. Her expression was one of incredulity. "I beg your pardon?"

"Look, are you gonna play along or not?" he demanded. "What exactly d'you think will happen if someone happens to walk by or something? Unless you have a death wish."

"You sure _you_ don't?" she fired back. "What are you playing at? Helping me does nothing for you, or for anybody else. In fact, it probably _is_ suicidal."

He almost missed a beat, but made a save. "Maybe it's because you still have a chance. Here, hold out your hands."

She complied warily, watching with wide eyes as he moved up next to her and took careful, steady aim at the lock on her chains. "At what, getting out of here? I didn't really peg you for a traitor, y'know—" He shot, and the slightly rusted mechanisms of the lock were blown to shreds.

"No. At having a life."

She froze, unwinding the chains carefully from around her chafed wrists, halfway to the wall. Sighing, she slumped against it and sunk to the floor, motioning him over wearily. "You should know you can't just leave something like that hanging. Since we apparently have some bought time: explain."

"Bad time to throw away caution, don't you think?" he commented tightly, fingering his gun again.

She rolled her eyes. "Please. You just shot my only remaining restraints off. And if you wanted to shoot me, you would've done it by now. Or tried to. And then you'd be down there with Mr. Bad Judgment. Oh—well, actually, if you'd already radioed in you'd just be unconscious and in these and I'd be gone," she amended, rattling a fragment of chain at him in indication. "And you couldn't do it now. You're too human for that," she stated like it was a simple arithmetic problem.

He laughed humorlessly. "Funny you should put it that way. I suppose you're right—except I'm only human in appearance and mentality. At least, mostly. And forget my internal workings. But that's still a lot more than I could say for some others. And as for my soul, well, who knows?" he glanced at the ceiling almost wistfully, like a higher power would speak the truth to him through the rotting boards of the decrepit ceiling above.

"Experiments, right? You were serious. Who's the scientist?" Diana wanted to know.

"You were one of Hojo's, right? The Loveless case," he confirmed as the beginning of a way to an answer. "And your brother was killed in a freak run-in with Wutaian soldiers."

"Yeah." Her fists tightened as much as they could without her fingernails stabbing lines into her palms and drawing blood - something that had happened in the past. She punched the fists together, her knuckles locking into the depressions in between those of the other hand. "Gods, I wish I knew how to get them back for that. You have no idea."

"You know that wouldn't do any good."

She released the pressure and drew her hands apart. "Would me."

He was silent for a moment. "So you never considered…possible causes?"

She made a face. "'Causes'? Once you're injured and alone against a group, you get killed, and you're dead, aren't you? I wasn't exactly there to see it, seeing as how I was running for my life. And I wasn't running _away_," she snapped somewhat crossly when he opened his mouth. "I didn't have a choice. He practically ordered me to get out of there—he knew I'd make it, but we had no chance just standing there, like he did—" She scratched a nonexistent itch on her nose. "But hell, why am I telling you this? And what're we doing talking about this, anyway? I asked about the scientist," she muttered gruffly.

"Maybe because when a dam's fortified too tightly, even the slightest tap will create a leak."

"Well ain't that just nice and metaphorical for ya. _This_ fortune cookie says that I can tell you now that this dam certainly isn't leaking—not yet."

"Not until you decide to open the floodgates, before they get broken open by themselves."

She grunted grudgingly. "Yeah, I'll deal with that when the time comes. I'm not ready yet. End of that discussion. I still asked you: who was it?"

He laughed dryly. "I wish I could tell you. Really. I've actually never seen him. And, yes, I know it's a man; his lab assistants use masculine pronouns," he clarified in response to a raised eyebrow. "We were created, raised, and trained in an underground lab facility; I couldn't tell you where, either. It wasn't that bad of an existence…I mean, sure, we're subhuman even as we're superhuman, but it wasn't like we were kept in cages or anything. Although it took a while to get used to sunlight when we went above ground. We'd be stuck in the back of a truck and not see where we were going until we got there. The big cheese ordered for us to be taken into the woods every so often—we did survival training, practiced combat on monsters…"

He shrugged. "It wasn't prison, but it wasn't normal, either. And not many of us even questioned it; that's the infuriating part. We hadn't ever seen any normal people until a battle with a pretty big monster took a couple of us to the outskirts of a village. No one saw us, but we weren't sent back to that area again. Then once we all figured out that the world wasn't a series of science labs with people in white taking care of people like us, they sat us all down like good children and explained all about how special we were."

He scowled darkly. "Gods, we ate it up. We thought we were the next superrace, that we were the best. They taught us all about the beginning of the world, then; the basics of history and current politics, geography—of course, they never let slip where we were ourselves, and we never questioned that, either…"

There was a faint aching pressure in her temples and behind her eyes that Diana usually associated with sadness, and she had to blink it away. "But…why come out here, all the way to the biggest city on the planet…and all just for _me_?" she asked with the quiet incredulity of someone who has not yet realized just how important they are in the scheme of things.

He leaned toward her for emphasis, with the assured air of the person who has to be the one to inform someone exactly how important they are in said scheme of things. "You're a renegade experiment," he stated slowly. "From a different project, I know, but I have reason to believe that whoever's pulling our strings took up Hojo's work, or at least pirated off some of his sick research. Think about it," he urged her when she gave him a what-are-the-odds-of-that look. "We're made similarly, if not in the same actual way."

She thought through the process of her creation, and her brother's. "Well, you must have all been test-tube babies, right? What was your childhood like?" she asked.

"Oh. Heh. That. I thought we might get there." He tried a smile, but it came out as a grimace. "I was 'born' this age."

Her jaw dropped and she exhaled hard in disbelief. "You're kidding…" she wavered. "So they grew clones, essentially? You weren't born," she confirmed faintly. "I mean—no offense to you, but—"

"No, none taken. It's just a fact of my existence. They haven't figured out if we age or not, either," he remarked with odd flippancy.

"Whether you _age_—" her voice went up another embarrassing half an octave.

"Yeah. Truth is…none of us have lasted long enough for them to tell. And it's obvious when it's coming," he continued matter-of-factly.

"When it's…coming," she stated, still unable to do much other than repeat his words.

"See, they can only handle so much at once, so every week or two one of us was produced. They're in a break period right now, and the twelve of us were the only ones trained enough to do this at the moment, so they sent us."

"Wait…wait, hang on. Just twelve of you, right? Then how come Ten said on the radio that he and Thirteen would handle it?" Diana found her voice again once she had noticed the incongruity.

"Well—wow, you caught that?" he interrupted himself, in something like admiration.

"I'm a SOLDIER," she chuckled once, dryly. "I _have_ to catch everything."

"I guess so. Well, there are twelve of us here, all right, but tell me this: did I ever say we're _numbers_ one through twelve?" he emphasized, raising an eyebrow.

She paused and thought, and it dawned on her. "Ahhh, very good. You didn't. So who's here: Two through Thirteen?"

He shook his head with the trace of a grim smile. "Even later. Four through Fifteen."

"Oh. Well, okay, but what about One, Two, and Three?" Her brow wrinkled.

He laughed then. "Oh, you met Three, I heard!"

"I what?" she blinked, taken aback.

"So did that boyfriend of yours. In fact, he even killed Three. Sound familiar?" he inquired.

"Zack killed him…? Oh, no way—in Kalm? ! The guy with the bandersnatch that ambushed me at night? !" she yelped.

"The very same," he nodded.

"Dang," she muttered. "He nearly killed me, too. Would've if Zack and my cousin hadn't showed up. He was choking me, against a wall…" She shuddered slightly. Those were not happy memories. "They had to resuscitate me with CPR."

"Well," Five laughed grimly, "good thing our orders've changed now. You're to be taken alive. Whatshisface, Zack—now, him they don't care about. But you," he wagged a finger at her, "you're supposed to be subdued and captured but not unduly damaged."

"Not unduly—!" she spluttered. "Whaddaya call braining me with an effing mace? ! You know that could've easily killed a normal human—"

"Ah, but we all know that none of us are normal here, don't we?" he interrupted quietly.

"Hmph. Yeah. Well. Speaking of." She had a thought that nearly sent her into panic mode again, and she couldn't afford to lose her head. "What've they done with Zack? He isn't—he's not," she stated stubbornly. There would have been a disruption in the rotation of the planet; a disturbance in the threads of her mind that made up her sixth sense; an intangible shockwave; somehow, she would know.

She would have to.

"Kept in another building, as far as I know at this point," he relayed rapidly. "We'll have to get him out of there…" he started to gear up until Diana stopped him.

"Hey, now. Clearly you're feeling charitable, or traitorous, or whatever you want to call it; but what's this 'we,' at the risk of sounding cliché?" she interrupted.

He barked a laugh. "Are you kidding? My time's almost up anyway—better to make this existence worth it, and besides—"

But Diana cut Five off again. "Hey. What'd I say? No dropping bombs sans explanations."

He looked genuinely surprised. "You hadn't figured it out yet?" Her sarcastic look told him that she had clearly not. "We expire," he stated matter-of-factly. "After about six months, if the first few deaths - huh, if you can call them that - if they've been any indication. They're trying to work on it now, though, every time there's a new specimen in creation."

It hit Diana like a punch to the stomach. "You…expire? Just…run out?" Like a battery? That was it? "That's why they haven't figured out if you age," she realized out loud. "So, One and Two…" He nodded. "…And we messed up their little pattern by killing Three off. And if you're Five…" she trailed off.

"Four started coughing up blood about a week ago," he stated bluntly. "He doesn't have too much longer left, even though it'll vary by a little from what they say. Our longevities vary, like they do for normal people. I have two weeks, maybe three if I'm lucky." He gave her a crooked smile. "I might as well go out with a bang."

Then he sighed and changed angles when he saw she wasn't going to burst in on his monologue again anytime soon. "You said that helping you would do nothing for me or anyone else. Well, define "anyone." _You_ still have a chance. You have a life ahead of you. You probably have people waiting for you; friends, a family, a career. And you sure as hell don't go forgetting that boyfriend of yours. I have a feeling he's quite the angry type when it's a question of your protection. So…call it an act of conscience-clearing, if you will."

Diana was silent for a few moments while she processed it all and thought it over. After a minute she appeared to make a decision, getting to her feet smoothly with that stubborn look on her face. "Well, in the first place, you're very right. I do still have a life; apparently one that's in jeopardy if your team's primary objective is to transport the package to base. I'm not a windup toy created for their amusement to disassemble and reassemble, and neither are you. I'll tell you what we're doing: we're going to employ my higher resources and we're getting to the bottom of this insanity, wherever it is, whoever it involves."

"I know I run the risk of sounding cliché, but what's this 'we'?" he quipped, repeating her words from earlier.

She chuckled quietly. "I'm getting Zack out of here if he hasn't escaped already, and you're coming with us. And I'm getting _you_ to _my_ base -" she jabbed a finger first at him and then in some general direction away from the building for emphasis - "where we can get you treatment. I have connections to the medical department and that crosses over with science. I know we can help you somehow, and I'm not just going to leave you to decide that you'll expire and that that'll be the end!" she declared fiercely.

He stared at her for a minute, then looked down and smirked slightly. "Call me crazy, but I kind of like this plan. And I'm helping, too."

"Well thank the gods at least one of us has got some pride left," Diana muttered.

"You know…" Five began quietly as an afterthought, "everyone's been telling me for a while that I must have a system error. I suppose it's because I've been showing signs of having a conscience, actual feelings…like a human. Like that's something we're supposed to be above." One side of his mouth twisted, like he hadn't decided yet whether to smile or to frown.

Diana knelt down in front of him, where he was still sitting against the wall. "That's no error," she promised him quietly. "It's just that real humanity can't be engineered away."

**A/N: Ahhh, now see, there're some answers for ya :) A little bit, at least. Hmmmm, anyone notice that they never really got back to the "possible causes" of Devon's death...? Mysterious... But don't worry, everything has its time and place, and with the products of my head running this show, well, who knows? Hahaha! Hope you enjoyed, and, well, now you see the connection to the beginning excerpt. See why I like that line so much? :DDD And more answers are sure to come. Along with some action. Muahaha! :D Oh action scenes, they're like my little guilty pleasures... Well, thanks for sticking with me and reading and keeping faith and whatnot, I love you all, and please review! :)**


	49. Words and Numbers

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: *stomps around the room ranting* An entire summer of running around chasing that guy in the suit that promised me the transfer of FFVII ownership and yet nothing to show for i- *stops and thinks* Waaaait, he wasn't just saying that so I wouldn't mow him down with that golf cart, was he? *strokes imaginary goatee* ... *glares* GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE PUNK.**

**A/N: *sigh* I know, I know, it's been way too long. The annual summer quasi-hiatus is over, though! :D And as here I am at midnight-oh-thirty, without further ado, I give you a chapter of comical fakeouts in the face of cheating death, flashback revelations, and the setup for one heck of an explosion. So more news later; for now, enjoy. :)**

**Chapter 49: Words and Numbers**

Five grinned suddenly. It was an odd expression, but not an unpleasant one, on his perpetually jaded face. "I suppose you're right. So. What's your plan of action?"

"Um." Diana stood up and looked towards the door. "…Charge?"

"Subtly? Or do we want crashing and screaming?"

"Stealth. To start with."

"Priorities?"

"Package is primary; targets secondary."

"Wait, you don't care if some of them escape?"

Diana didn't miss that his former comrades, if they could be called that, were now just more of "them."

She smirked. "_Let_ them run home with news that we're alive and kickin'. All the better to psych them out with." What she didn't mention was that, no matter what these people were, theirs was a sad existence. And while some might view it as putting them out of their misery, she really didn't want to kill anybody she didn't have to. Killing didn't just magically become easy after the first few times; there was a reason SOLDIERs just went and cracked sometimes. She didn't want to feel like a murderer.

"True. So…we go for the intimidation tactic?"

"Yeah, basically."

"So stealth goes out the window once we've acquired the SOLDIER kid."

"Yeah. Zack's good with ostentatious. Trust me."

"Good deal. Oh, and, er, this door locks from the outside… It's one of those old ones that are virtually un-pickable. So I believe we're locked in," Five pointed out.

"Not a problem. Get that radio of yours out and give me an excuse to make some noise—without attracting reinforcements, of course."

"Ahhh, I see what you're doing there. Oh, and, on the topic of launching an attack—I almost forgot about this—here." Five stood up and reached around his side, unhooking a small pack that was clipped to his belt. He offered it to Diana. "Miss this?"

"I wondered who took that!" she cried, taking it and undoing the zipper. "Sweet, it's all here. Thanks for, ah, _confiscating_ this," she joked, poking around the contents of the bag that was usually strapped flat to her belt. "Oh, man, I've been looking for a chance to use these." She finally produced a small bundle of black leather and metal without impaling her digits on anything. Pulling the gloves on happily, she gratefully admired them. They had been a late birthday present from Tifa, who had seen them in a store and thought of Diana in an instant. They were black leather and had cut-off fingers, like the ones Diana already owned, but these had steel plating on the knuckles. Practical _and_ painful. Not to mention the quality was much better than what Diana had been able to afford when she first came to Midgar. Hey, Tifa had one heck of a tip cache going from the bar. Diana sometimes briefly wondered how her friend's revenue compared to a SOLDIER's pay, but always ended up just cringing and not wanting to think about it.

"You're welcome. Those look…damaging," Five remarked, watching Diana flex her fingers and reattach the bag to her belt, still full to bursting with other small, razor-sharp paraphernalia.

"That's the idea. Okay, now let's do some false alarming."

"Agreed." He punched in the buttons on the radio for channel ten. "Ten? Are you there? I'm giving a status update." There were a few seconds of silence except for the static. He continued in order to get Ten's attention, "A mildly urgent status update—!"

_"What is it?"_ barked Ten from the other end. _"Is the girl giving you trouble?"_

"Well, that's one way to put it—"

Diana took this as her cue to wind up and punch the door solidly just below the knob, causing the entire thing to begin to splinter loudly in a spider web pattern.

_"What was _that_?"_ Ten roared. _"I thought she was subdued—"_

"Well, yes, but she's attempting to escape her chains, and anyhow, the tranquilizer wore off a while ago. Hasn't it for the second target as well?"

Smart, Diana thought, drawing back again. He's getting information in the process.

_"Yes—but—he's not making nearly as much of a racket as—"_ His spluttering was interrupted by another, louder impact from Five's end.

Five gave Diana an appreciative thumbs-up at her overly dramatic spinning kick that had actually knocked out a section comprising about a third of the two-inch-thick door. "Sorry, what was that? I think Target One just almost gave herself a concussion along with a hole in the wall—" Diana had to keep from laughing out loud.

_"A** hole in the**—no, never mind. Are you in need of backup?"_ Ten demanded.

"Not at all, Ten, she can't move too much with those chains—hang on—" He backhanded the wall casually but solidly. "All right, she's unconscious, I put her out. So much trouble, honestly… Are you sure we haven't gotten the call from base to move out yet?"

Diana had been wondering the same thing. Surely the men would be instructed to move the captives off location as soon as possible. And wasn't that kind of the golden rule if you got kidnapped—don't let yourself be moved?

Ten looked at his radio in mild concern, in the building just next door._ "No, nothing from channel one. Nothing from four, seven, eight, or nine, either, actually. Are you sure she's been immobile the whole time there?"_

"How would she not be? Except for the Eight thing—his radio was probably crushed on impact."

_"Ah. True. So no word from Four, Seven, or Nine?"_

"No word from anyone at all."

In truth, part of the whole thing was Zack's doing. He had dispatched Seven's and Nine's radios, one when he was attacked in the street, and the other with a well-aimed kick from the floor not long after he had woken up. But even he wasn't entirely sure of this.

_"I see. Exercise caution; I don't care if she's unconscious or not. Radio if you pick up on channel one."_

"Ten four."

The radio clicked off, and it was a good thing, because Diana snorted audibly. "Doesn't it get confusing using number codes if you all identify by number?" She made a face. "Why don't you have names, anyhow?"

He smiled wryly. "Are you kidding? That'd make us people, and we're only test subjects."

She cast her eyes downward and pressed her lips together tightly. "Hmph. Well, that settles it—after getting Zack, escaping, and getting help for you, the next thing on the agenda is to hunt down some white labcoats and beat the crap out of whatever's inside them."

He barked a laugh at the way she put it, then drew his gun and walked towards the door, which was now swinging freely on what was left of its hinges. "You don't do anything halfway, do you?" he muttered, checking the hall for anyone who might have been slow in locating the commotion. No one was there, but that didn't mean it was going to stay that way. "The stairs creak. A lot," he warned her. "Okay. So the layout is, they're guarding these two buildings that are side by side. From the street, we're on the right, on the third of four floors. No basement. Go down three half-flights and there's a front door, a hall that leads to two rooms, and a back door out one of those rooms. That front door goes to an alley in between the two buildings, with a guard at each end of it."

"And I don't suppose we know the layout of the other building where Zack is, do we?" Diana asked glumly.

"Well, actually," Five corrected her brightly, "they happen to be mirror images of each other. No guarantees on the décor—" he gestured around expansively at the creaky floorboards, barren walls, and crooked stair rail— "but the structure is the same."

"And he's being kept…?"

"Probably the same place as you. The fourth floor would be too close to the roof, hence potential escape—"

"And it would be too easy to get to the ground floor from the second," Diana finished.

He snapped his fingers. "Exactly. I'd say we have a pretty good idea, then. The only thing is, except for the two in the alley and Ten up there with Zack, I have no idea where the rest of them will be." He grimaced apologetically.

Diana clapped him on the shoulder. "Hey. Thanks."

"Yeah—wait, what?" His brow wrinkled in confusion. That had hardly been a proper response…

"I said thanks. Take it or leave it." Diana quirked a half-smile at him.

"Er. Sure, no problem, but what for, exactly?"

She looked him dead in the eyes. "For picking a side."

* * *

Zack glared at the back of the guy that was supposed to be guarding him, and rolled his eyes. Of course they had no signal from a third of their forces; the guys he'd seen so far barely seemed to know their way around a communication device. Now, the weapons; those were more natural in their hands. _Trained to kill, not to use technology_, he thought grimly.

He began to struggle again when the universal sounds of things being broken came through the static of the radio from Diana's end. A growl rose in his throat when he heard the solid thunk that supposedly knocked her unconscious. But he nearly cracked up in sarcastic laughter when the guy in the room said something about not caring whether Diana was conscious or not; she was still dangerous. _Damn straight she is_, he thought proudly, again wriggling his hands in vain. In his opinion, it would've been smarter to bind his hands together in front of him so they could see what he was doing if he tried to get out of these weird cable chains, but apparently his captors did not share his feelings. _Weird, but effective_. He pulled a wry face.

And for once, he couldn't see a way out of this one. Even his final deadly weapon had been taken from him: his natural gift for mouthing off.

He would have been firing off smart comments and profanities nonstop, doing anything he could to provoke or trick anyone and everyone within earshot. But evidently they had anticipated something like that, so as soon as he struck up a mostly one-sided conversation with an enemy with a short sword that came by, they cut off his rant about swords and techniques and (somehow) noodles by gagging him. And it tasted like feet that had spent a little too much time in a dumpster. Ugh.

_But I bet you sure are lost without your boss, or whoever's giving orders. _He grinned wolfishly around the gag at the guy's back._ There's always an opening, somewhere. Just wait til I get one. You'll be so in for it…_

* * *

Five strode confidently out into the alley, while Diana stood with her back to the wall next to the door. Now was the time for tact; they would get their chance to be almost shamefully dramatic and ostentatious soon enough.

Diana glanced around, leaning forward a bit to see into the next room. One of the men—Eleven, according to Five—had been standing guard on the ground floor. She had taken him down quietly with a pressure-point pinch, and thankfully he didn't give any indication that he had heard the whispered conversations upstairs. If he had, he must have assumed that the prisoner was only being taunted.

He was now unconscious, propped up behind a mound of dusty furniture and cardboard boxes in one of the two ground level rooms.

"Seven!" Five barked at the man visible at the end of the alley. _Oh, even better—he's one that's lost signal._

Seven whirled around. After all, Five was older than him, by about a month. "Five. I've lost radio contact with everyone."

"Have you kept your post?" Five asked sternly.

"Yes."

"Good man. Now, new orders. You and Nine are down here, right?"

"Yes, just us at the moment. Six, Twelve, Fourteen, and Fifteen are securing the perimeter."

_And even better._ "We need you and Nine to join them. We caught wind that those two have friends in the city, and they may well be plotting something…foolish…to try to secure their rescue. Let nothing and no one in past you," Five ordered.

"Of course. On my way." And Seven trotted off obediently, hailing Nine at the corner and pointing down the street. They ran off together, splitting at the next crossroads.

Five waited fifteen seconds before flicking two fingers forward behind his back: the okay signal. Diana made sure that Eleven was safely hidden, and crept out into the street.

"I just had a thought," Five informed her as she approached, acting as a visual in Diana's few blind spots. "What if you _do_ have friends in the city who might come charging in here, only to be apprehended and possibly killed by what looks like an assassination group?"

"Are you kidding? _No_ one saw me come this far," Diana declared, quite sure of herself. "I would've thrown off anyone who happened to look at me—well, except for your guy. He was pretty good," she acknowledged grudgingly. "Zack I don't know about, but people aren't exactly apt to follow SOLDIERs, or be curious. They…generally avoid us unless they take the time to reserve judgment. And that doesn't happen often," she sighed grimly, then lowered her voice partially out of force of habit and partially out of general caution to errant ears. "Sometimes I wonder how the people will react once there's a woman in a SOLDIER uniform wandering around." She laughed softly. "Provided, of course, that I survive the process."

"I'll be interested to see that," Five replied. And he would see it, with any luck at all. Never mind physical deterioration—provided that he survived the process. The thing was, he knew he was running on a combination of borrowed time and hope. Not that there was much of that to spare, either. "I hope I get the chance one day.

But, er…" he amended, wincing slightly as he and Diana backed up to the wall of the building where Zack was. "I have a confession to make. I was the one who tailed you. I signed up for it so I'd know what I was doing!" he defended himself when Diana arched an eyebrow.

"…Yeah, okay, I guess that makes sense," she allowed.

"And, uh, I was also—don't look at me like that—I was kind of undercover in the SOLDIER barracks…?"

"WHAT?" Diana whisper-screamed, remembering to do the former at the last possible second. "You were _right there_ and never thought to, I don't know,_ tip me off about the homicide attempts?_ _!_"

"No, no, that was before I ever had thoughts about—" he stopped and sighed. "Well, before I had thoughts about much anything. Look, do you by any chance remember exactly a week ago, the twenty-first? What happened that day?"

Diana didn't see how that was concisely proving anything, but she thought about it. "Wednesday…let's see. Oh, man, that was the night I got back completely torn apart by those…monsters…" She narrowed her eyes at Five accusatorily.

He winced. "Well, that too, but what about _before_ you left on that mission? That afternoon?"

"I…I was walking around as myself," she realized in surprise. "And that guy that I have a mutual pissing-off relationship with thought I was 'Devon.'" She stuck in the air quotes for good measure. _That was only a week ago?_

Five snapped his fingers quietly. "Exactly. He attacked you, and the two of you attracted quite an audience, didn't you?"

She laughed once. "We sure did. Surprised the heck out of _him_, for starters."

He chuckled back. "No kidding. Well, I was in that crowd. You probably wouldn't remember seeing me since there were people everywhere, but I remember seeing you beating him into next week and really throwing him for a loop. The thing was, I felt like I was analyzing a fighting style while I watched. I was infiltrating, observing the enemy. If it hadn't been me there, though, and someone else had been put up to the job…well, I probably wouldn't be helping you out now." He dragged the back of his hand across his forehead, glancing around and making sure they were still out of sight against the side of the building. "I think something just kind of… clicked."

**- One Week Ago -**

Operative number Five was undercover, and quite frankly, rather enjoying it. He was on a covert mission to find the Loveless girl—or, rather, traces of her. No actual personal contact would be required.

His job was to get a sense of the target. Her habits, her friends, the places she frequented of her own choosing, the kinds of things she was apt to be assigned to on missions. He really couldn't believe his luck, because just moments ago he had gotten wind of a fight in one of the SOLDIER barracks; and 'Devon' Loveless was involved. What were the odds of that, really now?

He was one of the first on the scene: just another SOLDIER, mako eyes and all, looking for some entertainment on an otherwise boring Wednesday afternoon. It looked like the fight was well under way, and the girl was up against some serious competition. In fact…

He narrowed his eyes at her as he leaned around the corner, a few men approaching from behind him to take a look at the spectacle. She looked awfully…well, female. Wasn't she supposed to be acting as a SOLDIER? If so, then why was everyone talking about Devon being in a fight? Her name was Diana.

Ah, but he remembered: she had been selling the story that they were near-identical twins. As if. Her brother was long dead, and it would only be a matter of time before everyone figured that out. And maybe, by that time, she would be too. It was what Five's superiors willed to happen; and happen it would. They were never wrong. They knew everything, and he was blessed to be in the position that he was in. He was the most experienced of those of his kind at the moment. Numbers One and Two had expired, and Three had been killed either by Diana Loveless or by someone connected to her in an attempted assault. Just a day or two ago, Four had begun deteriorating, coughing up blood and having bouts of mild weakness. Well. That wasn't acceptable in the field, and so the responsibility had fallen to Five. He had obtained quite an honor in this assignment, and he intended to carry it out to the best of his ability.

He allowed himself a small smirk as he watched the fight. This SOLDIER facing off against Diana would be in for a bit of a shock sometime in the near future.

As Diana turned back around to face the SOLDIER after coming out of an admittedly impressive sliding dive maneuver, a thick arm came swinging into her view and her entire body was literally backhanded, causing her to fly several yards down the hall until she flipped backwards and somehow landed standing. Her feet skidded back several inches upon impact, but she held her ground. It must have been like being hit by a moving vehicle, but she had probably had much worse. She ducked just in time under his next lunge and was temporarily shielded from Five's view by the bulk of her opponent, and she must have driven a fist into his stomach, because he doubled over from the force. Truly impressive, for Diana's comparatively small fists. It was only for a split second, but it was apparently all she needed.

If either of the fighters had been paying attention (it was probably a good thing they were not, as this would probably result in them being beaten to a pulp by the other within seconds) they would have seen the small gathering of SOLDIERs and cadets that had heard the commotion and were eager to witness whatever excitement was taking place, Five among them in all his surreptitiousness. But of course, they were only focused on the fight, and any outside distractions were automatically dismissed by the brain, Five reasoned. The mind was an incredible thing.

Diana brought down her clasped fists on the SOLDIER's back, forcing him to straighten up again painfully, and she helped him over with a scissor kick up under the chin that was made fairly difficult by his height over her. It was effective nonetheless, and she followed around his side, grabbing his dominant arm and twisting it up behind his back. She slammed him against the wall, panting.

Five couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. The tables certainly did turn fast with this one. He supposed she hadn't made it so far on luck alone. She was talented; he had to give her that. He must log that for later reports:_ is not to be underestimated_.

"Now would you care to answer: _why_ exactly are you attacking me?" she asked, looking like she was trying not to grin in triumph.

"What's that supposed to mean?" her opponent nearly spluttered, clearly infuriated by this time. "You piss me off the first day, and then—"

"Oh, I see," she said quietly. Then she cut off his angry spouting. "You think I'm Devon Loveless, don't you?"

Five smiled chillingly. _Ah, there it is._ He knew Diana would enjoy this. She appeared to love springing surprises on people like this; enjoyed being unexpected. Of course she liked coming out of left field like that; it was a rush to be the only one privy to a secret.

"I—what? Don't play mind games with me, freak—!" the SOLDIER began to yell, but she stopped him again.

"I'm not my brother, dammit!" she half-shouted, wrenching his arm back into place and shoving him away from her, several feet down the hall. She stood in place, arms crossed and glaring daggers. It was then that she noticed the small gathering of a dozen or two men around them, who were all frantically muttering to each other. With the exception of Five, of course, who hadn't missed the color of her bright green eyes.

An inarguably articulate "_Huh?_" was all the perplexed ex-challenger could manage.

Diana knew that they were all staring at her, probably in a lot of places that they shouldn't have been. Most of them knew her as Devon, and they were now taking in the different clothing and lack of Third Class uniform, the voice that was definitely female despite the fairly low register, the subtle curves.

There was a second of hushed silence, and then a male voice came out of the crowd, not far from Five. "That's hot," it proclaimed.

Diana appeared to resist the urge to react more strongly, for she merely exhaled hard as Five rolled his eyes. Leave it to a bunch of bored SOLDIERs to have one thing on their minds. At least _he_ was focused on what mattered. He still couldn't believe his good luck at having found her so fast. She seemed to attract attention—well, all the better for Five and his…teammates.

"Pick your fights with a little more awareness," Diana was advising her stunned opponent, raising an eyebrow. "And—" She stopped suddenly.

A man was stalking forward through the crowd, and many of the other onlookers were gawking at him. He passed through on the far side of the crowd from Five, and Five memorized his face, getting a strong feeling that this man might be important. He was right, as usual.

"Getting into trouble already?" the tall, raven-haired man smirked as he approached Diana, glancing pointedly around at the crowd around them.

Five frowned slightly. The two clearly knew each other. He also felt that he should recognize the man, possibly from his rapid briefing on important members of Shinra before he had entered the viper's nest. His memory rarely failed him, and he was caught up in the rare moment of perplexity.

Diana cocked her head to the side, seeming very much at ease in the man's presence. "You know me. I just go looking for it," she retorted dryly.

_That you do_, Five thought wryly.

The man barked a doglike laugh and came up beside Diana, taking one of her hands in his and smiling in a way that further bewildered the analytical mind of the observing Five. He had a foreign look in his dark blue mako eyes, and it wasn't a look that Five recognized.

He couldn't put his finger on it, frustratingly enough, nor could he think where he might have seen such an expression before. It was almost like satisfaction: the feeling of accomplishment that one gets after having reached a certain goal. But it was at the same time nearly like pride: believing that one had something to show for one's efforts and had something to be pleased about. There was something missing from the formula, though, and Five was becoming increasingly exasperated with himself for his lack of comprehension.

Five came back to the present events. The man had murmured something to Diana in passing. "So, what happened?" he then inquired nonchalantly, like the two of them weren't being stared at like the last living evidence of Gaia's creation by the crowd around Five.

Diana flicked a glance at her would-be attacker. Five noticed that he looked to be on the verge of a total mental breakdown.

"Oh, jeez…" Diana began with a touch of sympathy.

Both of Five's eyebrows went up at that. Was she expressing _pity_? Feeling—what was it called—_remorse_ for having gone along with the act and beating her adversary? Why would that matter? She had won, after all, and that was what it was all about. Gaining the upper hand was everything, because if you didn't have it, you needed to either get it or pretend to have it, because otherwise you got _dead_.

Regret: the feeling of remorse for an action that is usually done 'in the moment' without consideration for the outcome, at which point one usually experiences guilt and a desire for repentance.

He knew that one by dictionary definition; not experience. He and his kind regretted nothing, for they had nothing to repent for. They were the perfect beings, the road to success, the beginning of a new kind of existence.

But hadn't they been told that the Loveless children were like them?

Failed versions of them, sure enough; too simply human to be truly successful. But still. Was that enough to set them apart? Five knew his emotions by use of a thick book with tabs for the letters of the alphabet: the same way he had learned to read, only weeks after his creation. He was created, not born, unlike mere humans. Perhaps in beings more human than him, those things called feelings had longer to fester, to permeate the brain, to become more potent in the hypothalamus until the being's actions were ruled purely by these feelings.

_Avarice. Belligerence. Craving. Devotion. Empathy. Frivolity. Greed._

He went through the alphabet, as though rifling through the dictionary.

_Hubris. Indifference. Jealousy. Kindness. Meticulousness. Naivete. Optimism. Pride._

Humans did like to think they were always right. And it was often their downfall.

_Quarrelsomeness. Righteousness. Sloth. Trust. Unimaginativeness. Voracity._

They were also given to violence, allowing things to get away from them just too easily.

_Wrath. Extravagance. Yearning. Zeal._

But wait. He had forgotten one. Which letter—L.

_Lamentation lawfulness lethargy liability longing love loyalty_

Wait. Again.

_Grief truth laziness responsibility desire love fidelity_

There it was again.

Love.

Was that the word he had been looking for? The one he couldn't place. It made sense—it was one of those weak human emotions, as far as he could tell. One that made people do extremely foolish things for their own foolish means and goals.

Before he even realized it, Five found himself thinking that it didn't seem so foolish, if that was indeed the look that he saw in the eyes of the two people in front of him. And he resisted the urge to shoot himself in the foot right there.

All these things passed in only fractions of seconds, and hardly any real time had passed.

Five looked up at the scene again, biting his own tongue.

"…I bet you two don't get along," Diana was musing lightly. "But, no harm done!"

And no harm was done indeed. For at that very moment, a thought crossed Five's mind that he would have considered pure, unadulterated sacrilege had he taken the time to acknowledge it.

_Maybe humanity isn't really a completely bad thing to begin with._

**- Present -**

"I figured it out; at least, a little bit," Five allowed. "I started to think for myself, draw my own conclusions. Ask questions. Not out loud, of course; I would've had a convenient accident if I had. I got a little more human myself. And I guess I have you to thank for that." He half smiled at Diana, who was staring at him unabashedly.

"M-Me?" she stammered. "All I did was beat a rival up! You have your own revelation to thank. Maybe something triggered it, sure, and I'm glad it did, but—"

"No, it was you." Five nodded self-assuredly. "You and Zack both. I recognized that little human emotion for what it was, and, I don't know. Something clicked?"

Diana blinked and suddenly smiled. "Yeah, I guess it did. A spark doesn't take with nothing to hold onto, though, and you know what that proves?"

It was his turn to be confused. "What's that?"

"You all have a little bit of true humanity. Nothing can get rid of that."

"It can't be engineered away, because humanity is so real," Five recalled suddenly, remembering Diana's earlier words.

She smiled wider. "See? You are learning."

* * *

"We can take out whoever's in here on the way out," Five whispered to Diana a few minutes later, after easing the door to the building open. "For now, we need stealth and Zack—right?" He looked at her for confirmation, almost like a child. Something tugged at Diana's mind, and in a second she had it.

She remembered a certain unsteadiness in the steps of one of her attackers out in the street—_like a man crippled in an accident and learning to walk again_, she recalled. But that was just it. They were cloned, not born. Diana couldn't imagine learning to walk from scratch in an adult body, with the knowledge of how to do it present in the (technically) fully developed brain but with no muscle memory to match it.

Technically, he _was_ still a mere child. All of them were.

And that was sad.

She blinked off the revelation and decided to deal with it later. She nodded in confirmation to Five, and he advised her to be careful of the stairs as he closed the door silently.

They leapt up the stairs in near silence, Diana behind Five, jumping three or four at a time and keeping to the outside edges of the steps to minimize creaking. They paused every few jumps to as not to create a regular pattern, and listened for any more noise. They could hear Ten fuming upstairs—still—but there was too much in the way for either of them to detect the number of presences or their locations.

Finally they approached the door behind which Ten was muttering to himself. Diana could make out a few words, and she strained her superhuman hearing.

"…take…damn long. Should've…minutes. Not…" An interruption in the form of a crackling radio. A gasp of anticipation followed by a frustrated exhale of disappointment. A muffled noise, probably the creaking of wood sounding almost like murmuring, and a snapped comment from Ten followed by a dull thump.

If Diana had just gone on the assumption that Ten was grumbling over the unexpected lack of communication among their ranks and taken advantage of his agitation to charge in with all guns blazing, logical probability said that there couldn't have been too many complications ensuing.

However.

Everyone knows that it's always the extra second spent listening at the door that provides the real kicker, so to speak. The classic eavesdropping scenarios. Be it an open window or an air vent, those little coincidences never quite seem like they're just that, stereotypical though it may seem. It does happen. And it usually results in a veritable explosion.

This was no exception.

And what Diana heard next lit the fuse.

**A/N: Don't bother with seatbelts 'cause they won't be doing you any good - just hold on for your dang life! xD This is going to be one hell of a ride. And I know, this will seem oddly coincidental, like she just happens to pick up on a few words and somehow her mind jumps to conclusions - but if you've never experienced it, it's hard to believe. It definitely happens, though. Awwww, but the flashback part with Ten made me so happy! ^^ But actually! (Other than all those dang words in alphabetical order. If you'll notice, by the time I got to X I was like OH SCREW IT I'm taking poetic license and using an E! Hahahahaha.) And Zack. OMD I love that guy and his marginal insanity.**

**Okay. A lot to react to, I realize. I also realize this whole messy scenario will be taking up about four chapters lol, and all within like forty minutes of real time o.O But do your best, because I WANT those reactions! *stares around menacingly* I may be psychic, maybe even psycho, but I do not read minds! TELL me these things! xD Can you tell I'm overtired? Sheesh, first week of school and just...ugh. BUT. I actually have news and stuff for all of you, but I don't trust myself to make any sort of sense right now, so I'll just say goodnight, and I'll see you next time for the explosion! :D**


	50. It All Goes Out the Window

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Well, er...*looks around* ...I own my laptop? That's something, right? It's the secret to my success! *strikes dramatic pose***

**A/N: Darn it, one day behind schedule :/ It needed editing! Well...alright, I'm gonna be honest, that and I've been texting my long-distance boyfriend pretty much 24/7... ^^ Hehe. Hehehe.**

**Anyhow. Seriously. This one's rated for Diana's mouth, I guess o_O And corresponding mental freakouts. et cetera. Though I have to say, it's quite justified here. Other than that, I have exciting news! :D If I didn't get the PM out to you, then I apologize, but I'm on Tumblr now as run4life! It's not up on my profile yet but the link is_infamousrun4life .tumblr .com_. It's almost entirely focused on my writing, mostly meaning this story, plus random stuff that I basically reblog from UnderdogAngel aka Kelsey xD But yeah, so you don't have to be a member to see the blog, but it's basically the backstory that goes into the storyline and chapters so y'all should totally check it out :) That's all for now, enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 50: It All Goes Out the Window**

If Diana had just gone on the assumption that Ten was grumbling over the unexpected lack of communication among their ranks, and taken advantage of his agitation to charge in with all guns blazing, logical probability said that there couldn't have been too many complications ensuing.

However.

Everyone knows that it's always the extra second spent listening at the door that provides the real kicker, so to speak. The classic eavesdropping scenarios. Be it an open window or an air vent, those little coincidences never quite seem like they're just that, stereotypical though it may seem. It does happen. And it usually results in a veritable explosion.

This was no exception.

And what Diana heard next lit the fuse.

The muttering was becoming slightly louder, more frantic; almost feverish. It was a bit unsettling, and only a few words were coming through.

"Not this time...snow. Isn't cold, escape…down. Can't go…this time…"

Diana reeled back from the door, horrorstruck. She was breathing hard, staring at the floor, boring holes in the wood with her eyes, trying to drown out the words, telling herself that wasn't what he meant.

_Snow. He said snow. The snow. That day. Oh, gods. Escaping, no way, no, goddess, NO._

She looked around at the walls wildly now, not really seeing, not believing that she had actually heard that, clutching at her stomach like holding down her guts would help anything at all, panting as her ribs felt like they were constricting the tightness in her chest even further and yet feeling like she was trying to choke down something nasty at the same time.

_"So, you never considered…possible causes?" He was trying to tell me. Oh, gods, he nearly told me, and why WHY DIDN'T HE SAY IT but no it would've killed me and oh no IT WAS **THEM**._

All this time of thinking of hunting down a random squad from the enemy country, and that hadn't been it at all, and they had just been lying in wait so close to her all along. And had the game somehow changed?

_**They** killed him. THEY KILLED HIM but why want me alive is it different now—_

_I DON'T EVEN CARE, I WANT TO **KILL THEM**._

She was almost surprised by this new, violent, very forceful feeling, but nevertheless she felt it was in order, and her breathing got even heavier, her brows drawing together and her fists clenching while her arms were still wrapped around her core.

"Diana. _Diana_!" Five was still there. He was still there and reaching towards her, as she had backed down the short hallway in pure shock. He was only mouthing the words, though, and while it was unlikely that Ten would hear them over his mad tirade, if they gave themselves away too soon they were both dead.

"I know. I knew, and I tried to tell you, but there was just so much, and—" He took a real look at her still slightly blank expression tinged with unadulterated rage, stuttered to a halt, and began again. "Everything, it's changed so much, you know so much more now, and gods, you're in shock. I know. I know you have every right to know and every right to kill someone. If I had felt then how I do now, I would have done something, but you know—you know I was only a mindless follower then."

She accepted with her eyes, and while she still shook and then swayed slightly when Five grasped her shoulders, she was a little more with it. She didn't say a word but it was clear she was listening. She _was_ just in shock, and could still be rational. She would remember these moments quite clearly later, as parts of a traumatic shock tend to stick in the brain rather stubbornly.

Five knew he only had so much time before she got past the accepting and would feel the need to do something about what she had just figured out. In other words, she would need an outlet, and…well. He almost pitied _Them_.

Only, not.

"I was one of the few chasing you. You got away from me, you smart, smart girl, and I didn't see…" He swallowed hard. "I didn't see what happened. The people protecting you came after us for a little bit. The enemy soldier disguises were just a ruse, our helmets were wired to scramble our speech and make it sound foreign, all that trouble and it's come to all this now—you— and, I almost wish I knew so I could tell you, you deserve to know, gods, you deserve it, but…" He stopped babbling even in a near-silent voice and glanced over his shoulder at the door uneasily, his hands still firmly on Diana's upper arms.

He knew what she wanted to know. What single fact she would latch onto in a fit of grief and rage. "I don't know who did it," he stated firmly. "I just don't. But he—" he jerked his head toward the door— "he'll torment you with it. He plays mind games—he'll hold things over your head and dangle things in front of you, but you never know what's really true, and it's—it's awful. Just…do whatever you need to do. Don't let him get into your head. Okay? I'll follow your lead. I'll trust you." He gave her shoulders a slight shake.

"…Okay," she said faintly. He wasn't sure her lips had even moved. "Zack doesn't know," she stated unexpectedly, mouthing the words like Five was (lip-reading came in very handy at times like these) but somehow making them firm. Maybe it was in the set of her jaw, or the tilt of her head. Maybe it was in her eyes, which kept going in and out of focus and flickering an odd color somewhere around and in between rust and moss and amethyst. "He doesn't know about my double life. I'm waiting for a certain time to tell him. So keep it down if you can." Five knew the story Diana had been telling about her cousin dying instead of her brother—they knew everything, after all.

He didn't voice the observation that she was acting unnaturally calm all of a sudden. Not to mention eerily rational and accurately synthesizing all the important information apart from what had caused her the shock. Maybe that was an ordinary response to shock for most people. He wouldn't know. "…Okay. I will. And, once Zack's free…whatever direction you take, I'll follow."

What he meant was, if Diana went on a half-delirious killing rampage as partial retribution for what had been done to her and her brother, he would be her wingman. Which was one hell of a commitment to make, but Diana wasn't exactly focused on the depth of the statement at the time, so she didn't fully comprehend his meaning. She nodded, though, and the movement was jerky, like she was tightly wound but her muscles just wouldn't respond.

"But right now, I'm going to walk through that door and pretend you're being watched by someone else. It won't do any good to charge in if there's a gun pointed at Zack or something. I'm going to stall. Whatever you want to do, do it when you want. Okay?"

"Okay." She was firm again. At least she appeared stable. That was something, right?

"Okay. I trust you." So he turned on his heel and stepped almost silently down the hallway, Diana right behind him. She flattened herself against the wall next to the door, out of the way, assuming no one looked up the stairs. But there would be a proper commotion in a few moments anyway, so it didn't really matter.

Five opened the door—it swung towards her—and confidently strode inside to be greeted by a bark of "Five! What are you doing here?"

He replied to Ten, but Diana tuned it out. She trusted him to stall for a couple minutes, and so she took a chance and closed her eyes for a moment.

_I know who killed my brother. Okay, not the actual being who did it—hell, maybe even they don't know—but whatever, I know that it was Them. But they want me alive. Why? Maybe they screwed up by killing him, or maybe the game changed partway through. Maybe it's just a ruse so they can kill me…no, they would've done that a long time ago. Wow. Is this really what shock's like? I'm in shock._

_Oh my gods, I'm in shock. I didn't really remember what it's like. Huh._

_Okay. Well. I can't change anything, but someone is going to pay. And with Five on our side…maybe we can find the viper's nest. It'd be stupid to try an interrogation or something here. Let's be rational. But._

_Zack. Need him. Right. That'd be good. Then they're going down. Right. One step at a time here. Rational. Yeah. That's good._

The words came drifting through to her as she opened her eyes with an exhale.

As it turned out, not even half a minute had passed. The two inside the room were arguing over the lack of signals from base, and Five was successfully getting Ten pretty steamed about it.

Zack sniggered fitfully, nearly choking on his own tongue. _Damn piece of dumpster sock shit_. He began gnawing on one of the edges again. He was getting closer to a breakthrough, even if it did taste like chewing on what remained of a hobo's shoe.

The one who had been guarding Zack and muttering to himself like a freaking lunatic brought himself up short all of a sudden. "Hold on, if you're here—"

"I _told_ you, she's probably still unconscious—" Five noted but didn't acknowledge the fact that Zack strained against his chains and built up a low growl at that— "but I put Seven and Nine on watch!" He had taken a chance and named the former, whom he had encountered in the alley between the houses, and the latter, whom was never too far from the other.

It was logical, considering the thinking on his feet that he was doing. But he really didn't like the smile that Ten got on his face at that.

"So those two were right," he gloated. "Something _was_ wrong. Where'd her presence go? Did her heartbeat just…drop off the face of the earth?"

Five had begun swearing profusely in his head—who in their right mind forgot about his own ex-team's senses that were his as well? !—and Zack stiffened sharply.

"Something did seem off, they said…" Ten drawled, dragging it out. Five didn't even know what face to try to make. _Any time now, Diana…_ "So they scaled the side of the building…and imagine their surprise when nothing came from inside! That plus an unconscious operative on the first floor, well…"

He let out one cold laugh and spread his hands. Then he dropped his voice eerily. "So where'd she get off to?" he whispered.

It was then that the wall exploded.

Diana had been waiting for an opportunity, a good time to enter and let loose all seven circles of hell. Then with the revelation that someone knew she was gone, she decided it was time to step back to the edge of the stairs, take a running leap forward, and quite literally blast through the wall via a double kick with her arms crossed in front of her head. When she landed amidst the smell of mold and splinters of rotting wood, she rolled and came up standing, facing the enemy in the middle of the room.

"Where you least want me!" she snapped, fists up.

Zack had used the cover of the explosion to snap the gag off the rest of the way. _Finally. Gross. Double gross._ It fell away and he shook it off his shoulder and onto the floor.

And then he saw an angel in the middle of the debris.

And holy shit, was she infuriated.

But Ten only laughed, after a brief pause where silence reigned supreme. "I have to say that was a little unexpected. You got past all three of them, then?"

She and Five both took pause at that. Three?

_Oh, shit, Seven and Nine and the one downstairs. Maybe more._ Five wavered. He'd walked them straight into a crossfire. _Well, only one thing to do now._

So he bellowed "ATTACK!" sounding quite mad, and charged Ten.

Diana didn't ask questions, just ducked over to where Zack was sitting, wide-eyed. "What vat of toxic waste have these guys jumped into lately?" he demanded.

"Nice to see you too, you're welcome for rescuing you," Diana grunted, locating a piece of wood the size of a two-by-four that she'd knocked out of the wall. She pulled out a throwing star and thunked it into the end of the wood, then picked it up and turned back to Zack. "Put your feet apart," she instructed him. Mostly ignoring the severely property-damaging fight that was going on a few yards away and appeared to be migrating out the door, she swung the makeshift axe and chopped through the chain in two swings. There were a few crashes behind her, as the battle had indeed moved all the way to the stairs and seemed to be on its violent way down.

"Okay, now turn around and give me your hands—" she started to say, not really noticing how Zack was staring at her. He got to his feet in one motion, stepped right up to her, and kissed her firmly on the mouth. Diana's eyes widened and then closed, throwing away caution entirely, and she reached around him to hack off the chains around his wrists. She tossed the tool across the room as Zack's arms came around her in a tight embrace.

He broke away after a moment to bury his face in her hair. His next breath shuddered slightly. Sure, he acted like a total screwball. But in all honesty, he had been pretty near terrified. "I thought I might have lost you. Or that I would… I tried to act like I didn't even hear him, but, he said things. He was saying things, screwing with my head, and…and I…" He coughed once. It might have been covering something. "It scared me."

"No, I'm okay… I always was. It's okay," she murmured, running her fingers through his hair. "Well, I mean, I got attacked, but I beat his ass into the pavement."

"Number Eight, right?" Zack confirmed, making an attempt to get back into business mode.

"Yeah, the idiot with the mace. Payback. Oh, yeah." She grinned, almost viciously.

"Well, what now?" Zack wanted to know.

Diana fell silent for a moment. Then her back suddenly went ramrod straight and she gasped out loud. "Five! Oh, gods, we have to help him!"

Zack gave her a strange look. "Er, what? The crazy dude?"

"No no, well, yes, maybe, all things considered—he's on our side! He freed me so I could take Eight down, and he told me a ton of stuff and he might expire soon and he doesn't know everything but he can help us!" she babbled, tugging Zack towards the door.

"No offense, but are you _sure_ he's alright?" Zack wrinkled his nose as he reached over his shoulder for a broadsword that wasn't there.

She turned to look right at him. "Trust me on this one."

Somehow, he just did.

"And you know what these people did, right? Or some of the others?" she went on semi-casually.

"Uh, no, what—" Then it hit him. He had guessed, from the conversations going on around him, and apparently Diana had figured it out, too. "Your cousin."

She hesitated but nodded tightly, part of her tension coming from something entirely different, unbeknownst to Zack. Then her expression hardened. "We're gonna kick some ass. Make a lot of noise. Scare the living goddamn shit out of them and whoever's sending them. It'd be stupid to try to kill them all or something. Besides, there are too many. We'll get out with Five—he's essential, and he needs help now—and do it with one hell of a bang. _Are we clear, soldier? !_" she barked in an impressive imitation of Angeal.

"Sir!" Zack yelped back before he realized what he was saying.

"Good! Now execute!" she grinned evilly.

"You said there were too many—do you know _how_ many?" he asked as Diana checked her supplies and edged towards the stairs.

"Better. I know where most of them are," she replied. "Twelve of them are available to operate in the field; Four through Fifteen are here. We met Three in Kalm," she remarked, like it was an offhanded point of interest. Zack blinked in recognition and shivered slightly as she continued. "Dunno where Four is—he lost contact a while ago. He was patrolling. Five is on our side, Six is somewhere out on the streets a few blocks away or so, Seven and Nine are together and were supposedly called in by Ten—that could be a bluff, though, so I dunno—Eight is probably dead, severely incapacitated at the least; well, you met Ten; umm, Eleven is unconscious in the other building, Twelve is probably with Six, Thirteen should be around here somewhere, and if not him then Fourteen or Fifteen if they're not out on the streets. There," she declared, quite proud of her memory.

"Wait, then how am I supposed to tell which one not to attack if they all look the same?" Zack whined suddenly, having a thought.

"They do not look the same," Diana scoffed. "Just generic."

"Oh, right, 'cause that makes all the difference to a person," Zack muttered.

"Whatever, I'll show you somehow. C'mon, let's go. And remember, think ostentatious. I know you can do it." Diana waved for him to follow her out the door. "LET'S GO KICK SOME ASS!" she roared.

Not two seconds later, she stopped dead on the stairs. Someone was tearing up the steps toward her, obviously on a mission. She hadn't seen this one before, and she raised her fists—until he stopped abruptly on the fourth or fifth step to smoothly pull out a gun and point it without delay straight between Zack's eyes, who was standing off Diana's left shoulder two steps up.

Now, Diana was already angry.

She was unstable over the shock she had experienced, and hyped up on battle adrenaline, which can feel completely unlike the adrenaline that most people experience in a state of nervousness or exhilaration or a fight-or-flight scenario. And she had a feeling that someone was about to take a flight, via her fight.

Because now some bozo was pointing a gun at her boyfriend, on account of the fact that they were under orders not to kill her. Zack counted as significant leverage.

Yes, Diana was very angry. Irritable, for sure; fuming, certainly. Livid and irate, well, quite possibly.

She was pissed.

So she pointed a finger right back at the man's face. "You pull that trigger," she stated menacingly, "and you will be defenestrated."

He pulled the trigger.

Zack nearly gave himself a concussion on the ceiling by leaping up and sideways with his lightning reflexes to land on the creaky stair rail and slide down it on his feet, in order to avoid the bullet and land behind the other man. It was like he had rehearsed the stunt in a producing studio a dozen times before.

Said other man looked incredibly, almost comically surprised, mostly because he found himself airborne literally before he could blink.

This was because Diana flung herself forward and down the stairs to drive a foot into his stomach and grab his arms on the way, using the outgoing momentum from her kick to swing him up, over her head, and around 270 degrees counterclockwise to smash through the filthy window in the stairwell and take a flight path that arced out and down a considerable distance.

And so he was defenestrated.

Zack whistled.

"Go!" Diana yelled, vaulting the railing and landing on the flight below, in front of Zack. They took the stairs as many as they could at a time, following the sounds of Five and Ten's battle. Diana winced as they passed a section of the steps and previously attached rail that had been completely smashed away, and then all too soon they slammed to a stop on the first level.

There were three doors. One was the front door. One was at the far end of the fifteen-foot-long hallway, presumably to a spare room and a back door.

The remaining one had been opened quite forcefully, possibly by a flying body. The top hinge was lying several feet away, the pin having popped straight out of the mechanism's joint.

But the true problem lay in the sudden lack of noise.

There was no backdrop of crickets sounding, no cacophony of birds screaming as they took flight from these strange creatures who traveled on two legs and destroyed things. Not in the city.

There was no hum of computers, no creaking of tubes as air circulated through ducts hidden from view. Not in this building.

There were no sheets of rain splaying their fingers against the blocked windows, no tree branches scratching their way along the wood of their neighbors. Not today.

There was just the raw human sound of breathing, and two of these exchanges of oxygen and carbon dioxide belonged to two humans in particular who were desperately straining their senses to detect these same signs of others.

Nothing came for a time that really took the space of an average human heartbeat but seemed to take eight ticks of the second hand on the clock in the hall that was no longer running.

And then, four heartbeats could be heard. And in time with these, running footsteps outside the front door. But they passed by, which didn't make any sense at all.

What made Diana's head snap to focus straight on the sound was a low chuckle.

It was dim inside the third doorway, but her eyes had no problem adjusting instantly. And the figure taking slow steps toward them was most definitely not Five. In fact, it was clearly Ten.

Diana was tempted to snap a _where is he_ line at the psycho, but at the last second she snarled, "_Who killed him_?" scarcely of her own volition.

Zack would have blinked had he been inclined to openly show emotion in this conflict. He wasn't—he wasn't having anyone or anything used against him, really—and so he didn't. Of course his first thought in response to Diana's demand was of Five. He wasn't dead; Zack could clearly hear a fourth heartbeat and labored breathing, and he feared it was coming from the dark shape huddled on the ground against the far wall of the room beyond, by a window so dirty it was nigh unrecognizable. The wall around it, or him, was cracked as if a wrecking ball had made an impact. _A wrecking ball…or something thrown by a SOLDIER_, he thought abruptly. _Or someone of our strength. Gods damn._

And then he realized that Diana was talking about the one whom she had lost, so many days ago, so few months in the past. And his chest ached for her, for them both, for all three of them, and his fists began to shake.

She had made the connection. He had to admit, even he hadn't seen that coming. But it made sense; all of it. _They killed their cousin—and now they're coming after the twins._

And clearly the game had changed. Whether it was the players, the chess pieces, or the strategy to capture the king and queen, he wasn't sure. But it didn't really matter.

Because Zack always had had a knack for being the knight to come flying in out of left field, no longer disguised as a mere pawn.

Ten was laughing, but Zack smirked.

"Who _was_ it? And while you're at it, point me in his direction," Diana growled, poised to lunge forward and barely keeping herself in check.

"How should_ I_ know?" he inquired gleefully, his arms spread wide. It appeared he was vulnerable to an attack, but it was always the one without all their marbles that you had to watch out for. _They're unpredictable_, Zack thought, praying that Diana was recognizing this as well.

"I was chasing _you_, not shooting _him_ down!" he cackled. "Nearly got ya, too! Alllllllmost took out that pretty little eye of yours." He pointed at the right side of her face.

A breath hissed over Diana's teeth and she suppressed the urge to grab at her scar. Zack knew that if he turned his attention to her he would see the thin pinkish-white line that invaded upon the skin of her right cheek.

"That…was _you_," Diana growled. She went to say something else, but abruptly stopped herself and her spine straightened slightly.

And she got this really creepy smile on her face that unnerved even Ten.

"I guess I have to thank you, though." She dragged out the words, clearly enjoying this.

Zack knew what was coming. Gods, she freaked him out sometimes, but it was usually 1) worth it, and 2) at some creep's expense. This was one of those times.

She wasn't just pissed. She was feeling murderous.

"Without this," she went on, "I wouldn't have anything to remember it by!" She shrieked the last words, and launched herself straight at him like a savage animal.

He backpedaled fast, but not clumsily, as she tried to land a punch about a dozen times in a row. He blocked them each time, like this was a plotted sequence, and Diana was about ready to scream in frustration when she was reminded to keep her head and not get wound too tightly. That led to deadly mistakes.

She snap kicked at his right side and missed giving him a dead arm by just that much, and Ten turned away and tried to grab her leg. He missed but got ahold of her wrist in her distraction, and with a simple twist he had thrown her onto a table on her back. Diana gasped for air, the wind knocked out of her like it had been so many times before, and a few thin tears flew from the corners of her eyes as she choked.

Ten leapt onto the table, cracking it down the center and sending them both crashing down to the floor, but not before Diana got a knee into his stomach, still struggling to inhale.

* * *

Now, Zack had had every intention of helping Diana, taking the creep out, and tending to the lump that was indeed Five. However, that was before two more guys came crashing through the front door, almost literally.

He yelped and ducked under the swing of one's sword, and met the second's charge with a very solid foot to the stomach. Snatching up a chunk of wood, he narrowly blocked a downstroke from the first one, and with a distractingly fast flurry of punching and lunging, he grabbed the wrist of the hand grasping the sword and dug his fingers in, twisting hard. He was fairly sure the bone snapped as the man yelled, and Zack quickly pivoted, grabbing the sword hastily, to hurl it straight through the left foot of the man coming up behind him.

_They keep coming and we're screwed_, he thought absently as the first one came at him again with his usable fist raised.

* * *

Ten let out a slight gasp of his own, but managed to whisper into Diana's face. "Ever feel guilty, Diana? You got off with only that little scar, didn't you? Hmmmm?"

Diana found her breath then. "_Don't fuck with me_!" she screamed, arching her back and throwing him off her—he was heavy—to grab one of the crushed table's legs and snap it clear off. It was light in her hands, but it was solid and it was a weapon. She didn't have time to grab for anything legit in her bag.

The kick to her stomach left her gasping all over again, but she looked up with rage in her eyes just in time to catch him coming at her again and drive her free fist up under his chin. His head snapped back but he came right at her again, trying to grab for both of her wrists. She danced away and drove the table leg in her hand into his oncoming outstretched hand, the splintered wood hopefully breaking the sensitive skin or stabbing a nerve. Offhandedly, she tossed the stick away in the direction of the flurry of movement coming from the hallway where Zack was engaged in a battle of his own. Ten struck again, and while she almost broke his ankle when he tried for a kick, he deflected her strike just as easily.

* * *

Diana was not going to win this.

She was a wreck already, emotionally more so than physically, and it was severely unnerving fighting someone like him. She didn't know what to expect, and when he wasn't throwing snide comments at her and messing her up more, he was just as fast as she was on a good day.

And it was not exactly a good day.

It really didn't look good.

And he might have won the fight, too, were it not for one very important factor.

**A/N: ANOTHER CLIFFY I'M SORRY BUT IT HAD TO BE DONE! Yeah, so, this was my friend's face after I summarized this chapter for her 0_O I feel bad for torturing my OC sometimes... But this is so _not_ the land of the Mary-Sue, sooo there ya go. Review please, and remember to hop on over to check out the blog and drop me a line! (Psst...you don't even have to be a member for that, you can post anonymously!) See you all soon, and thanks for reading! :)**


	51. Points for Creativity

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: No, sadly this leave of absence hasn't been accompanied by me hunting down a copyright to the world of FFVII...would be nice though, haha!**

**A/N: I know I can't apologize enough for this and make it sound legit, but it isn't that I've been unmotivated to write; quite frankly I've just been unable to do much of anything thanks to the shitstorm that's decided to take over my life. It's nothing compared with the magnitude of Diana's own issues, but let me tell you it's sucked.  
This is where it changes. From now, I'm not taking any more crap or letting things beat me. I'm sick of being unhappy and sick of the hell that my best friend in the world's been through. Life bites you in the ass sometimes, even when it isn't aiming for you. No lessons come without pain, but just because they weren't our lessons to learn and we weren't the ones to blame doesn't mean we can't walk away stronger. This is where it all gets back on track. A better one.**

**Nice, huh? I'm not looking for sympathy or a scapegoat or anything, but I just kinda wanted to get across that things have been a bit beyond my control. I wanted to write so badly, but I just couldn't get myself to do it. And when that happens you know there's a problem! (Holy crap the aliens stole run4life didn't they? ! - eh, no, not quite, haha.) Just try to understand if you can, I love you all and thanks for sticking with me - er, at least hopefully you have! :) Enjoy all the same.**

**This one's for you, Ultimate. Let's carry on.**

**Chapter 51: Points for Creativity**

Diana was not going to win this.

She was a wreck already, emotionally more so than physically, and it was severely unnerving fighting someone like him. She didn't know what to expect, and when he wasn't throwing snide comments at her and messing her up more, he was just as fast as she was on a good day.

And it was not exactly a good day.

It really didn't look good.

And he might have won the fight, too, were it not for one very important factor.

* * *

Zack panted, finally having knocked his first attacker's head against the wall hard enough to render him temporarily unconscious. Temporary was all they needed right now; was all he needed to get to Di.

Tearing through the doorway and assessing the situation, he didn't have time to think. Ten and Diana were rolling over and over on the floor, practically ripping each other to shreds. Ten had just said something that was clearly causing Diana pain, because she shrieked in rage as she tried to slam his head into the side of the couch they had just smashed into. It looked like the already junk-filled and dilapidated room had been subjected to a tornado simulation.

Tears were streaming from her eyes in grief and anger, and the repeated pain was helping them along. But those eyes were wide open in a desperate attempt to keep her vision clear. And they were glaring and crying and aching and screaming in shades of dark crimson-violet. That in itself was surreal and more than a bit unsettling.

Diana leaped from the floor to grab for a long-forgotten fragment of metal, possibly from an I-beam, that was lying by an overturned table not far away. Zack saw her jump. He marked her trajectory, velocity, and intended target. He tracked Ten rolling up into a kneeling position way too fast. He saw the other man's arm shoot out with concentrated precision. For a moment he almost thought Di's trailing leg would slip through her opponent's grasp—but then part of her was hauled back forcibly and he saw her foot twist unnaturally.

He also saw the dark mass by the window start to shift. And then it exploded into full-throttle motion.

Diana crashed to the debris-littered floor, one leg crumpled under her and an arm outstretched. She heard motion, felt it, and really didn't care, even when there came a scream from someone behind her in the room and the hand gripping her now throbbing foot relinquished its hold on her. Her neck twisted uncomfortably, she stared straight ahead, between the remains of the back of a chair and a shattered picture frame that hadn't seen its glass plate in years.

Come to notice, her hand was bleeding from having landed on some of the fractured metal.

She didn't move, even when one of the three men in the room stumbled and nearly crushed her leg. Her breath was shaky—it whooshed in and out in heavy gasping gusts. Her stressed veins felt like they would pulse straight out of her skin.

And she didn't budge, except for her breathing and the pounding of her heart.

She couldn't.

* * *

When the body smashed through the window above her head, her eyes snapped to find the sound only to reflexively squeeze shut to the torrent of falling glass.

Then suddenly she was scooped up off the ground. She hardly reacted; and maybe it was her instinct telling her that she was meant no harm, but she found herself just not even caring anymore regardless.

Someone leapt smoothly through the shattered window, and Diana could feel the man holding her holding his own breath. A moment later the other landed lightly inside the room and spoke one word:

"Dead."

Diana gasped audibly and opened her half-lidded eyes fully, staring into Zack's face.

He looked down at her in careful concern. "It's okay now, Di. He's gone. How are you doing?"

She blinked slowly. "I… Where is he?" she asked dully.

Zack and Five exchanged apprehensive, vaguely confused looks. "Diana?" Five ventured. Her head turned towards him. "He's not coming back." He stood aside and pointed wordlessly out the window, where Ten's body lay on the ground outside.

"Are…you sure?" Diana asked after a heavy pause, during which she stared with rather alarming intensity at the corpse.

"I checked his pulse, his breathing, everything," Five stated pragmatically. "Even our kind can't live through that kind of blood loss, regardless of the other…damage."

"…Oh." She blinked twice more, and finally twisted her cramped neck to look straight into Zack's eyes.

It only took two point three seconds for her to throw her arms around his neck and bury her face in his shoulder. Only one hiccupping sob escaped her, but she didn't spend another tear. And exactly fifty-three point two eight seconds later she raised her eyes to his again. Another second and a half and the sounds of running footsteps reached the six ears in the room.

Zack stared into Diana's eyes, trying desperately to decode what she was feeling, what he could possibly do. There was still a fight to be fought, and if he knew anything at all about psychological warfare, Diana had just died about three theoretical deaths and was in no condition to risk an actual one.

A thin ring of violet bordered by a weathered, bronze-gold frame was slowly being overtaken by a sea of green. Zack's own indigo eyes widened because he certainly knew what that one meant. _My gods, I don't believe it..._

"So—" Diana rasped, and coughed a few times. Zack set her down carefully and she, incredibly, reached down and dusted herself off. She glared at them both suddenly, and both men drew back mentally and looked vaguely terrified.

"Well? !" she demanded, her voice still scratchy but no less vehement. "Are we gonna raise some hell or what?"

"Hey! Remember the last time we referenced raising hell?" Zack blurted out nervously, his borderline ADHD taking over his vocal chords temporarily.

To his amazement, the brunette threw back her head and laughed. "Forget Summons; that was cake compared to today!"

"Not to be the downer here, but are you actually doing alright? I mean, not to highlight the whole you-just-had-a-fight-to-the-death-in-a-questionable-mental-state thing, but, uh…" Five intervened, finally speaking.

"Am I alright?" Diana barked another laugh. "On one hand, hell no. On the other, though…" She grinned and it was positively evil. "This is where the retribution starts. No way in hell am I passing this up. Vengeance is way too sweet. Oh, and Zack—" she began another thought offhandedly, and suddenly her gaze intensified frighteningly— "_duck_."

Zack was a smart guy. He flung himself to the floor as Diana and Five each dove to their respective sides, away from the window. And it wasn't a moment too soon, because a somewhat large knife buried itself several inches deep in the wood of the window frame.

"Come to join the party?" Zack exclaimed joyfully, exploding up off the floor and heading straight for the two heavily armed men in the doorway.

Five copied him. "_This_ is your idea of a party?"

The two entering men were so surprised at this evidence that their ex-comrade was in fact exactly that, a traitor to his kind—just as they had been informed over their radios not too long ago by Ten, the leader of this operation—that they didn't even see Diana coming in from the right until she was practically on top of the first of them, yelling, "What, you aren't having fun? !"

"There are more!" Zack hollered unnecessarily, hurling a small table at the doorway once Diana had body-slammed into her target, carrying them both several yards out of the flight path of the unfortunate piece of furniture. One of the now three men who had just entered the room knocked it into splinters with a terrifyingly simple backhand motion.

Zack tossed his head and rolled his eyes, not reacting visibly at all to Five tearing across the room to deliver a kick to the kidney of the man who was trying to smother Diana with an old rug. "Please," he scoffed, regarding the three on the threshold with disdain. "I've been doing that since I was twelve."

Right on cue, Diana whirled and _threw_ her opponent across the room, inches from the other enemies' noses. In the instant it took for their eyes to track their comrade's unexpected movement, Zack was suddenly in their faces, and he was armed with half a chair.

Five went after the last one into the room and helped Zack to hold off the other two while Diana yelled and charged her opponent, who was up again already. Diana's arm was grasped and she was hurled to the floor, but she turned on one knee and head-butted the man in the stomach. When he stumbled backwards and bent over for just a moment, she grabbed a vaguely geometrically shaped object that she spotted out of the corner of her eye and threw it straight at him. By reflex, as he looked up he automatically caught the basket with both hands, and after staring at it for just an instant, he realized what was happening just in time to reach for his gun but lost consciousness as Diana's knee smashed into his temple.

Meanwhile, Five and Zack were enjoying a game of human bowling.

"'Let's dance'?" Five inquired dryly, quoting his new comrade as he ducked a punch and tried to knock one of the men's feet from under him.

"Yeah!" Zack grabbed the wrists of a second opponent and spun around a full five hundred forty degrees to whack him straight into the third man. The two made very pained-sounding choking noises and collapsed in a pile as Five took a hit from a jammed machine gun (which was apparently now being used as a battering ram) and grimaced. One of the two on the floor was making grabs for Zack's ankles, and he danced away, nearly giggling, until one of the larger wayward pieces of smashed furniture got in his way. He only tripped up for an instant, but that was enough for him to be pulled to the floor, and the enemy jumped on him to send them both rolling painfully across the debris-strewn floor amid the flash of knives.

"Hey, guys!" came a shout. Immediately, a dully gleaming candelabrum buried itself with a thud and a faint ringing noise in the wooden floor right next to the head of the enemy that was still down at the moment but unengaged. His eyes widened and, had he been any ordinary man, his expression would have been one of terror as Diana grinned aggressively in his direction. "Extra points for creativity."

With that, she lunged forward into the space that had been hastily vacated by her enemy and wrenched the candelabrum out of the floor just in time to lock it into the barrel of the pistol he pulled out. They fought against each other for control, sweat beads breaking out on their temples and between their fingers, until a shot was finally released into the ceiling. The shell dropped to the floor and the noise was lost as her opponent smashed a steel-toed kick into Diana's shin. She swore loudly in her head as he proceeded to lose some of his balance and compensated by slamming his foot down on top of hers—the one that already probably had a couple fractures—sinking them both down a few inches into the floor. Diana gritted her teeth and yanked down and in towards herself on the arm she was battling against, pulling her opponent off balance again for a second. She swung a leg around and leapt—not very accurately, but effectively—onto his back, squeezing hard with her thighs so that his sides were compressed painfully. Diana would have tried to get a better grip and use a move Tifa had taught her (this involved essentially choking the opponent with one's legs, twisting, and throwing said opponent to the ground) but instead she opted to grapple for the gun in his hand that would certainly cause bigger problems at this range. He yelped and, unfortinately, did the logical thing, turning and throwing himself back-first into the wall. Her breath whooshing out, she held on stubbornly, but when he did it again, she released her hold by reflex and dropped to the floor like a rock. There was a small window of opportunity when he moved away from the wall before turning to her, and she took it to kick at the backs of his knees. He crumpled just as she had and they sprang towards each other, him losing the gun and her still without her breath.

They rolled over a few times in a tangle of limbs, Diana finally stabbing him in the kidney with her heel in a maneuver that was not in any way orthodox. This got her halfway back to an upright position, but then he rose up and spun on one knee to backhand her across the face.

She nearly bit her own tongue off but yelled indignantly, "HEY! You don't slap a girl!"

"In this case I'm willing to make an exception!" he retorted, making another swing at her.

* * *

Across the room, Zack was simultaneously driving two people out of their minds.

"I thought SOLDIERs were supposed to be useless without their weapons!" one hissed at his comrade just before the latter suffered a blow to the head by the feet of a third ally, thrown by Five.

"True, my sword is pretty damn awesome," Zack put in conversationally. Then he grinned fiendishly. "But I've got a wicked pile driver!"

* * *

There was a reverberating, painful-sounding crash from Zack's end of the room as Diana nearly bent her wrist back the wrong way with an overestimated block. "Great, well if they weren't aware of this little situation before, they sure as hell are now!" she yelled, ducking a swing and whipping her leg up to hopefully break her opponent's jaw. But that was wishful thinking, since all it did was fling him into the wall ten feet away, spinning once in midair and making a splintered crater in said wall. When he came at her again, she ducked and flipped him over her back, slamming him to the floor as she jumped onto his stomach and tried to clap her cupped hands over his ears to rupture his eardrums. Instead he saw her arms coming and grabbed her wrists, arching his back to flip them both over so that Diana was robbed of her breath for the second time in the past three minutes. Pinned under him with a knee in her stomach, this time she really couldn't breathe and her brain began to panic slightly.

"HEY YOU!" someone hollered. It was Zack, quelle surprise. "THAT'S _MY GIRL_!"

Diana's hair actually whipped around her face in the slipstream from Zack's kick that swept up and under her opponent, following through way higher than the average male could and/or was willing to do.

The man broke through to the floor of the room above.

"More company!" Diana yelled as she shoved Zack out of the way so she could shove her left foot into the stomach of the guy that had just blown into the room. Unfortunately, he caught her foot.

Diana vividly remembered how she used to get out of this predicament when she and Devon would play fight with the other kids in town.

She jumped and landed on her right hand (she used to have to use both) picking her right foot up and bending her leg to get around the side and back of his legs, and then she snapped a kick straight into the backs of his knees, sending him crashing to the floor like a rug had just been pulled from beneath him.

Not a fraction of a second later he was up again and appeared to be going to a straight-on tackle maneuver. Diana was going to headbutt him in the stomach, but just then Five bellowed, "DUCK!"

And in this kind of situation, when someone says "duck," you aren't just kind of bending over to avoid, say, a pillow thrown across the room.

No, you freaking _duck_ like your life depends on it. Which, in context, well…

Diana did just that to get out of reach of her attacker and flung herself to the ground in the same movement. She wasn't a moment too soon, because someone must have had explosives on them, considering the fact that the ceiling fan had just exploded and all the parts been flung in all directions, including a significant amount of broken imitation glass.

Looking around, Diana realized that her opponent hadn't gotten the memo fast enough and had been bowled over through one of two doorways to a second room by one of the blades of the fan. There was an open section above what looked to be a countertop in between the two doors, and before he could get back on his feet properly, Diana launched herself neatly through said opening. At first she was about to shout triumphantly, but then felt the need to swear violently as she realized he'd actually _caught_ the damn thing and was cocking back to swing and use her as a baseball.

So, naturally, she grabbed the first shiny object that she saw on the countertop that was crammed with Gaia-only-knew-what. And shiny was a relative term, seeing as how everything in these houses seemed to carry a layer of dust and grime three millimeters thick, minimum. She swung too, one-handed, and was pleasantly surprised when the top half of the fiberglass fan blade came splintering right off.

A second later she realized that she was brandishing a frying pan. She shrugged mentally. _Go with the flow._

"How many more of them are there gonna be?" Zack yelled in Five's general direction as he broke a table lamp over the head of one enemy and performed a one-handed handspring backwards to slam his feet into the kidneys of another.

"Well, accounting for all eleven of them," Five wheezed after a few seconds, having taken a hard blow to the midsection, probably the most abused part of him after his encounter with Ten. He had at least six broken ribs and was lucky that the probable internal bleeding hadn't penetrated his lungs. "Diana got Eight and two others, then there's Ten—_hah_!" he shouted in satisfaction as he rebounded off the wall and got several well-placed jabs in— "There are five in here, pardon the pun—that makes, uh, nine—so I figure two—are still patrolling and haven't gotten the message yeeeeeet!" He yelped and ducked as a projectile came flying from a side room that he hadn't paid much attention to.

"TAKE THAT YOU MOTHER-EFFING SONOFABEHEMOTH—"

Based on the noise, its origin was Diana.

She nearly snapped her spine slamming backwards into a counter, and used her momentum to do a backwards kick-over with her arms bent back and her hands on the solid surface. However, she may or may not have temporarily forgotten the restrictions implicated by a standard eight-foot ceiling. The counter was three and a half feet high, and with her arms extended Diana took up more or less seven feet in length.

When totaled, that is much more than eight.

Her knees met the ceiling and she went crashing down the wrong way, all the way to the floor. She could have broken her attacker's neck just by landing on him if he hadn't had superhuman reflexes, but, you gain some, you lose some. She rolled and scooped up a handful of nasty-looking dust and dirt as a knife struck the floor where her throat had been, tossing it into her opponent's face.

Was it a dirty trick? Puns aside, yes, absolutely. Was it necessary and proper? Well…maybe not so proper, but it was necessary, anyway.

She grabbed the frying pan from where it had landed and rained blows down on him but he finally cut under her attack, snapping her head back with his elbow. The next thing she knew, she was about to launch a kick but suddenly found herself airborne.

Five ducked for the third time in the past few minutes. Splinters of wood were flying everywhere, and Diana was lying on the floor of the main room beneath a Diana-sized hole in the strip of wall between one of the doorways to the side room and the window-like opening in the middle. _Ooh. That doesn't look like it felt good._ What remained of the structure shuddered and collapsed, and a cabinet fell noisily to the floor, its contents smashing instantly.

Diana's opponent flew through the significantly widened space just in time for Diana to stab the frying pan into his stomach and lever him over her from her position on the floor. Her ribs felt like they were going to come out of her front and she vaguely wondered if she could stab someone with one if it decided to come off. Then she twisted and followed him down, grabbing his collar, planting her feet on his midsection, and slamming him against the floor, hopefully breaking something important. She released her hold quickly and kept moving through the air, hoping he wouldn't be mobile enough to grab her trailing leg. However, she was fairly sure he'd managed to cut her side with a knife or something similar as she had grabbed him.

As it turned out, he wasn't going to make another move to attack, because when Diana turned to briefly look at him, he was out cold but still breathing.

"WATCH IT—" someone shouted.

"Wha—?" Diana began to ask stupidly before a fist filled her vision and her head snapped back. As she stumbled and fell, she went with it and rolled into a backward somersault, springing up with the intention of hitting the offender where it hurt. "SONOFABITCH!"

She slammed an uppercut straight under his jaw, sending him up into the ceiling and back down to earth, where he kicked a pile of dirt and grime into Diana's face. She spluttered, and when he came at her again, brandishing a gun, she spat it right back in his face, mixed in with a nice amount of the blood that was now flowing freely from her broken nose.

"That's why ya don't spit into the wind, man!" Zack supplied from across the room as he danced around the enemy that appeared to be trying to get him into a headlock and shoot him at the same time. The gunshots were distracting Diana and she had to constantly check to make sure she wasn't being fired at as well, even if inadvertently.

Okay, now her opponent was shooting blindly in her general direction. Not okay. She swore as she swerved wildly out of the way, because she felt a bullet carve out a trail of flesh at the back of her ribcage all the same. She absently hoped it didn't lodge, but she was more focused on the sentiment that she _hated_ guns being fired at close range. It was like cheating, and it was reckless and either an easy way out or an easy way to hit something, or someone, that you really didn't want to. It wasn't likely that these guys cared either way.

Now, Diana had a rule regarding males and the place where it hurts to be hit. A personal rule that she'd formulated years ago. After seeing her brother get hit there by accident too many times, she had decided not to go for a blow that low (literally) unless the motivation was tantamount to her being attacked in a dark alleyway.

So she figured this was pretty close and therefore justified.

She kicked up between his legs, which launched him clear across the room and straight into Five's arms, where he was promptly struck on the temple with the butt end of a pair of iron fire tongs and knocked unconscious.

"This is ridiculous!" Zack yelled as he swung with an umbrella that was falling to pieces to propel another opponent towards Diana.

She hooked her arms around one of his as soon as he was within range and flipped him clear over her. Her left shoulder joint had popped oddly as she moved; one of the side effects of being able to execute actions so fast was that one could quite literally overdo it. The maneuver was harder to pull off than it looked: she had to step to the left since his leading arm was his left; her right arm went over his forearm and her left behind his upper arm; and she had to shove up, out, and in the direction of his momentum to flip his body all the way over hers. It made a wicked wrestling move most of the time, but while Diana was successful, her shoulder didn't just shift and click back into its proper place like it should when the joint popped.

The ceiling was a minor obstacle for his feet and most of the rest of his lower body, but he still managed to fling a knife her way and leave her with a formidable scratch down her arm. "You're telling me!" she yelled, going after the enemy to make sure he stayed down, keeping her left arm out of things.

* * *

Two minutes later, when the last of the enemies fell from the ceiling to the floor, unconscious, Five collapsed.

"Hey!" Diana yelped, running unevenly over to him, heedless of her throbbing foot. "Nope. Nooooo no no don't you dare pass out. You're too fat for me to carry," she attempted to joke as she coughed a couple times, feeling his pulse and helping him to stay sitting upright.

"You've both been under way too much stress. Let's just get as far away from here as we can," Zack declared, sweeping some broken glass out of Five's way. "What part of you feels the worst?"

"Head, I guess," slurred Five. The battle with Ten had taken its toll on him and he most likely had a grade three concussion.

"Um, it's kinda between foot and ribs right now." Diana would have shrugged, but, well, there was that pesky shoulder to think about, too. "You?"

"Stomach, kidneys—whatever's in there. Come on, let's go." Zack hoisted Five up off the floor and gave him to Diana on her right side. He strode toward the now considerably enlarged window, trying to make as clear a path through as he could.

"Er, Zack?" Diana jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "Door?"

"I, uh…may or may not have collapsed it." Zack rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Why am I not surprised?" Diana sighed. "Okay, Five, now use my arm, don't jostle your skull around…"

* * *

"Gah! I'm not getting any signal," Zack ground out in frustration, frantically punching out various codes into his PHS. "C'mon, there's gotta be a tower somewhere around here… See, this is the kind of thing I've got to get Seph to bring up with the President—"

Diana imitated the decidedly unlikeable aging man: "Well, whaddaya need consistent PHS service for down there? You think those slum dogs have the means to communicate? No, ha ha, we don't need that—"

"Not unless there's some actual _goddamn emergency_!" Zack fumed. But the buildings were beginning to look more inhabitated, if still shabby. "Jeez, finally; marks of some civilization. Maybe we can…"

But he trailed off when he saw a figure keeled over, slumped against the side of a doorway. The person was male, disheveled and clothed in lots of grime-covered black with a hood that partially obscured his face.

Diana readjusted her grip on the semiconscious Five. She walked over to the limp body cautiously, giving him a tap on the shoulder before checking for a pulse. "He's gone. No blood or anything that says it was an external cause, but he's awfully skinny… Man. Poor guy."

Zack hesitated slightly, though he didn't know why. Then he shook himself. "Yeah. Homeless, probably. That's the slums for you, though, I guess. It's too bad. Come on, it can't be far from here." He knocked briefly but hard on the door of the building the man was motionlessly propped up against, hoping that the residents had a way to contact someone about the body, and the trio continued onwards.

* * *

When the three battered and bloody mako-eyed people had passed up the street and almost out of view, one of the inhabitants of that very building opened the door slowly, gasped, and called for someone inside the house. In a matter of seconds the pair had determined that the pale, emaciated man was recently deceased. One went to call the police on the landline.

They didn't take any notice of the dog tags around his neck: one with a numerical and alphabetical series carved into it…and the other inscribed with the number four.

**A/N: Yeah, so, have a fight scene! It was so entertaining to plot out and write, I gotta say :P The song "Derezzed" by Daft Punk from the Tron soundtrack is pretty awesome, I had it playing on repeat the majority of the time haha! Poor Five, though...8( You have to remember that while they're all walking around and helping each other and stuff, they've all got broken bones and everything else, and would be in debilitating amounts of pain were they not running on adrenaline and survival instincts. And yes, Ten really is very much dead. Their boss ain't gonna be happy xD Take that, you sucker. (I'm not spoiling anything, but trust me on this one, he/she isn't exactly a bucket of warm and fuzzy feelings.)**

**And this mysterious dead man... anyone catch onto that? And if you did, then what does that mean large-scale for our three friends? Reviews/guesses are wicked awesome! :D All will be revealed... Next time: they all hurt a lot, Zack and Tifa yell a lot, Genesis and Aerith panic a lot, Cloud gets headaches a lot, Max and Shane unintentionally help a lot, and Diana links a lot together. And the update shall not be far off! 'Til then. :)**


	52. A Veritable Emergency

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure this is, like, the seventy-something-th disclaimer I've had to come up with, and you know what? IT DOESN'T GET ANY EASIER. :P**

**A/N: Back again, back again...! (Even if the chapter is shorter. Hey, it was necessary.) And guess what! ? I have a Fullmetal Alchemist plot bunny! :D If you're a fan then check out that poll that will be up on my page within the next hour or so if you would be so kind :)**

**And so our heroes are hobbling down the street, partially conscious and in pain! ... Er...great? Don't worry! :) It's gonna be okayyy...once Zack calms down o_O I swear my little Zacky muse just took over the keyboard and went with it! I haven't got too much to say WAIT SCRATCH THAT. I GOT A DEVIANTART.**

**So find me at http:/ infamous run4life .deviantart .com ! Minus the spaces, of course! :P I haven't gotten any of my fanart for this story up yet...but that's somewhere in the near future! :D**

**And now I shall briefly reply to people (I am so inconsistent with these, it's terrible -.-').**

**YoungReckless: **Oh yes it can be quite the bitch. I shall bitch it back O_O Why thank you! I know, don't you just hafta love the poor guy? 8'( Oh I know you were going to hunt me down o_o' it was quite the threat-spiel you gave there xD

**Sarah: **MUAHAHAHAAAAA yeeees he did *cackle* creepy sonofa...yeah. Haha, thanks, here ya go! ^^

**Shatter: **Very nice summation. Thanks :) we're trying. Hahaha, yeah, it was kind of insane, wasn't it? xD aw thanks, it was awesome writing it all out. Ahaaa, you gots it ^^ that was indeed Four, dead. Well, technically he's not the last, 'cause they didn't absolutely kill all the other guys back there. A few were just unconscious but they were all indeed severely wounded so they'll be out of commission for a little bit...again, assuming they're found by their boss's people and everything. (Speaking of, any guesses as to the identity of the head honcho?) Technically there are more of them back at the lab, but they're still growing and everything so they aren't in any condition to be used as weapons yet. (Sickos...gah, I hate the evil people 0_O) Thanks, and here be the chapter! :)

**Chostani-san: **Mmmmmmm-hm, exactamente. Not good at all 8( we'll just have to see how it works out... Why thanks ^^ and ta-dah!

**Chapter 52: A Veritable Emergency**

**1629 hours, Office of SOLDIER First Class Angeal Hewley, Shinra Headquarters**

Angeal raised an eyebrow at his PHS. Eleven missed calls from Zack, all appearing at once, like the piece of technology had been backed up and was trying to compensate. The SOLDIER sighed.

_He wandered into a dead spot again, didn't he?_ He reached for the call button as a twelfth call came in, finally being received properly. "Yes, this is Angeal." _I swear, if this is his idea of a prank—_

"Damn it! Voicemail agai—wait—FINALLY YOU PICK UP! ? WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A GODDAMN EMERGENCY HERE! NO SIGNAL IN THE ENTIRE AREA AND WE'VE GOT TWO PEOPLE HALF DEAD AND ANOTHER SERIOUSLY PISSED OFF—!"

Angeal gritted his teeth and held the cursed phone at arm's length. "Zachary, pardon my Wutaian but would you calm the _hell_ down? !"

"YOU WANT ME TO—huh?" Suddenly Zack's voice moved away and Angeal wasn't sure whether to take that as a cease-fire or to not risk it.

He was tempted to go with the latter option until he heard the voice of a female—a very cross female—barking at Zack from the other end of the line._ Diana? Goddess above, what have these two gotten themselves into now?_

He didn't have to wait long for his answer.

"Okay. Okay. Point taken. Angeal?" Zack came back on.

"Yes, Zack," the older man replied patiently.

"We need emergency transport right now. We're in the Sector Six slums—me and Diana—with an ally that's critically injured, and we aren't doing too great ourselves," he summarized curtly.

_Wait…two people half dead…that means…_ It was Angeal's turn to yell. "WHAT? !" _But...w__ait a second._ Once he got over the initial decibel level shock, he realized that Zack's voice was wavering, even while he was being snippity. Zack being short with anyone was rare, not to mention that he sounded uncharacteristically shaky. Like he was seriously overtired...or injured. Really injured. And he understood exactly what that meant. Maybe not the circumstances, but the concept at the very least. "Okay. Alright. Get to the nearest main street, I'll track your PHS signal and I'll get you a vehicle—" Then he thought about it and asked the question that would confirm his suspicions. "Zack? Do you need a medical vehicle?"

There was a short pause. "...Yeah. That'd be good." And he hung up.

Angeal stared at his PHS for about a second and a half as he realized just how serious things were. Then he grabbed his desk phone and scared the shit out of first the operator, then the secretary at the medical wing, then the secretary at emergency transport, and then an ambulance driver. "I'm sending it through right now!" He typed away furiously at his computer. "I want that signal traced on the double, and when we get there ask no questions! Is that clear?"

"Sir! Excuse me sir, but you said we?"

"Well of course I'm coming! Give me less than a minute! Go!" He executed the final command on the keyboard, punched the enter code, and tore out of his apartment, taking the hall and stairs at a dead sprint.

* * *

"Zack—Zack! Zack, I think he's starting to fibrillate."

"Shit." Zack crouched down, wincing, next to his two companions at the side of one of the main streets in the slum.

The passerby hardly spared the trio a second glance. It went to show how things worked around here. Survival of the fittest, and don't ask questions. Once or twice an especially concerned pedestrian would study the group a little more closely than usual—but then they would see just _how much blood_ there was on the young man and woman whose eyes glowed; never mind the condition that their companion was in. And then they would hurriedly walk in the opposite direction. No emergency phone calls made. No offers for help.

Five's eyes were fluttering and they could only see the whites. Diana was trying valiantly to talk him into staying conscious. She looked up at Zack. Her eyes were deep, dark green streaked with golden yellow and brown. "How long did Angeal say?"

"He didn't."_ Thank Gaia she keeps her head in a crisis._ Zack reached tentatively for Diana's hand; the one hanging limp that wasn't feeling Five's pulse and wiping sweat and blood from his brow. He didn't expect her to gasp in pain and recoil, still only putting her weight on one leg. So he attempted to stare her down. "You didn't mention your arm."

"I'm pretty sure it's just a dislocation. I am _not_ half dead and don't you lecture me; I know for a fact your wrist is broken and you're limping," she fired back. "Gods, what if we can't get to an AED? If we can't defibrillate the heartbeat and it doesn't stabilize he could flatline, and you're still bleeding like—like—a regular human!" she spluttered, unable to come up with anything better.

"No, I'm pretty sure ambulances come equipped with those," Zack affirmed grimly. Right on cue, they heard a siren. Rising and supporting their consciousness-fighting friend between their horrendously abused bodies, they tracked the sound for longer than a normal person could. It made waiting all the worse, and the adrenaline was starting to wear off, which meant the pain was coming in increasing waves.

* * *

When Angeal saw the trio on the curb, he was sure his own heart had a little hiccup.

"Even from here I can tell…" he said to the driver, who was at least an EMT and possibly a paramedic. "I've never in the four years since he made SOLDIER seen Zachary this badly beaten up. And never mind that it takes a lot to do that to Diana Loveless as well."

The SOLDIER was thankful that one probably had to have recklessness to the point of insanity for the sake of other people listed as a medical condition in order to become an EMT. They had arrived on the scene in a matter of mere minutes, and in seconds two men had flung open the rear doors and jumped out the back of the truck before it even screeched to a full stop.

"If you'll give me a moment, I have to help. We'll be out of here in seconds, sir," promised the driver.

"Good man. Permission to stay in the back of the vehicle with the injured?" Angeal inquired.

"Sir?" The man was clearly confused. It wasn't every day a First Class SOLDIER asked one for clearance to do something.

Angeal looked dead at his—in principle—subordinate. "These people are in your hands and they could very well owe you their lives by the time this is all over. This is your show right now and I am not going to compromise it by not being conducive to the operation."

The man swallowed hard but didn't lose focus, setting the vehicle in park and jumping out as Angeal did. "Permission granted, sir. I feel it's appropriate." He also felt obliged to salute Fair briefly and nod to the young woman with him before taking in the situation that confronted him at the back of the van.

"I'm no expert," the woman was saying, "but he's in the worst shape out of us—Angeal!"

"What, you didn't think I'd show?" the big SOLDIER scoffed, helping a disgruntled Zack into the ambulance. The two paramedics had already gotten Zack and Diana's unknown comrade onto the table in the back of the ambulance, and his breathing was hard and shallow.

"See, this is what I like about the military," Diana coughed. She absently realized that her limbs and extremities were actually shaking uncontrollably with stress and exhaustion as she climbed into the ambulance with a paramedic. "Efficient, and no superfluous questions asked til later. The operative word being 'later,' but minor details."

Seven is not an optimal number of people to have crammed into the back of a rapid transport emergency vehicle when it is hurtling through the streets of the slums of a city and has to eventually climb up to an entire second level of said city and make it all the way into the medical wing of a headquarters complex.

"Watch out for these wires and do _not_ touch anything that's touching him, just to be safe," the paramedic instructed the single woman in the group. "We might have to use the paddles and we'll mostly likely be using some materia. This is critical."

"Good deal. What do you think? Is he gonna be okay?" she asked him anxiously, looking up from her seat in a chair. She had been instructed to remove extra clothing items, so her belt and a package that seemed to be full of dangerous-looking, pointy things were on a seat next to her. Currently, she was attempting to extract herself from the shreds of an outer shirt, deliberately not using several body parts.

She was obviously tough, though, and by the looks of things, battle-hardened to boot. The man wondered just who she was, but his priority was taking care of her injuries. "I think he'll be just fine when all's said and done, but he's in pretty serious condition. I have to focus on you, though, and since you're conscious can you tell me what hurts? I want everything, even the stuff that doesn't seem so important."

At this the woman appeared to zone out a little, like she was focusing acutely on something. "It can be hard to tell sometimes… Okay: left shoulder; left foot; ribs, especially the right side; head; spine at the neck; left shin; right hip; back and side. And it feels like a Behemoth's sitting on my nose—Zack!" she suddenly yelped, automatically jerking to try to get up and run to him. He had just slumped over, unconscious, and one of the other paramedics was getting an IV started in his arm and cutting his shirt off.

Diana stared openly at the three deep scores in Zack's stomach that were trying desperately to heal themselves via Zack's regenerative systems, but the bleeding was too profuse and he was moving too much for it to be effective. There was blood absolutely everywhere, soaking his shirt and even dripping onto the floor, and Diana couldn't believe she hadn't noticed so earlier. But she had been barely lucid herself and had just been trying to get them all to safety alive.

"You stubborn idiot," she whispered, shaking her head at how Zack had managed to pull off what he had while so severely injured. _You were half dead too, and all you could focus on was that we were in danger and that you were ticked off about it? Damn fool…_

The paramedic was well-trained—the best—efficient, and professional, but he couldn't help but blurt out, "What did the three of you get _into_? A monster nest or something?"

The woman gave a bark of a laugh and winced. "Yeah, right. Metaphorically, sure; but literally, well, quite frankly that would've been welcome compared to this."

He shook himself. "All right, well, miss, if you could just stand up for me for a moment, don't use that left leg and I want to make sure nothing looks out of alignment except for that shoulder; that's definitely a dislocation." Taking one of her hands to steady her, he placed a precautionary hand on her back. "I'll be wrapping that foot up real tight for you, same with your ribs because they're probably broken…"

It took him a second to realize how warm, wet, and sticky his hand had suddenly become. "Gods!" he exclaimed, leaning around the other side of her to get a proper look at the area somewhere between her right side and her back. There were two slash marks and what looked like a trail of flesh carved out…and a lot of blood.

The paramedic had assumed up to this point that she was just cut and bruised; a broken nose, some broken ribs, a sprain or two…but she shouldn't even be conscious by this point with this much blood pumping out of her. It was no wonder Fair had passed out seconds ago, and apparently she should have too. He assumed the two patients were closely connected, and while he wasn't quite sure about the man who seemed to be the most severely wounded, he bet that the man was a comrade, if not a friend. There was something nagging at part of his brain, though: the observation that his patient's knuckles, of all things, were all skinned, bruised, and bloodied. That, put together with the bag of pointy objects, triggered a connection that should have been obvious to him from the start. _Holy Goddess, she's the fighter that hangs out with the SOLDIERs all the time. Loveless; of course! Her twin is a Third and friends with Fair… And then there's that bag full of public safety violations just waiting to happen…_ He suddenly realized what he had been missing the whole time. _Dear Gaia, were they in a large-scale _fight_ that got them all in this condition?_

"I didn't miss that, did I?" Diana Loveless was asking apologetically, swaying slightly; but that might have been because of the erratic movements of the vehicle. "I did say back and side? Yeah, one of them shot me, I think…"

His anxious reply was, "You're lucky you're still conscious, unlike these two. I'm starting an IV for you right away. You can't go through that much blood loss and not have—"

"Oh, but I for…forgot to say—it's kinda important." The woman cut him off and looked at him as steadily as she could. "It's alright, 'cause I - I regenerate like a SOLDIER…"

And with that, she proceeded to get tunnel vision and was just unable to fight it, or want to, anymore.

**1652 hours, Medical Wing, Shinra HQ**

In one of the offices, a doctor was listening to the daily police reports on the radio just before the five o'clock hour started up. Besides a man calling the emergency line on the basis that his cat had disappeared (the poor feline was later found sleeping under a bed) and yet another report on the ongoing Wutai War, there was a case about a man not having disappeared, but rather appeared.

He was found dead on the doorstep of an apartment building (and that was a loose term) on the Sector Six slums. A woman living with her husband in the first-story space had heard a knock at the door and gone a moment later to answer it, only to find a man seemingly unconscious and unresponsive. No one was in sight, even when her husband went calling up and down the street.

The man had no identification on him; no wallet, no personal belongings except for an unusually extensive array of concealed weaponry. Except, however, for a pair of dog tags that hung on a chain around his neck. One had a series of numbers and letters on it that looked like a code, but it was unintelligible.

The other had the numeral IV inscribed on it:

The number four.

The other witnesses in the neighborhood had, incidentally, been too afraid to mention the strange people and events they had seen in the past hour or two. First a dozen men clad in black and sporting weapons most people had never even seen in person; then the two seemingly innocent young people that had been attacked and kidnapped; and never mind the loud noises and minor explosions that preceded those same two people making their way back the way they came, bearing an unconscious man with them.

What did they care? It wasn't like they'd be arrested for perjury or something. Odds were, the police wouldn't care about an incident in the slums very much. And it wasn't like those people could have been important or anything. What was a gang mix-up to them? No, the stranger it looked, the quieter the slum-dwellers remained.

No one else believed the little girl that claimed that the man and woman had glowing eyes like SOLDIERs, anyway. Really, what were the odds of that?

**A/N:  
****run4life: Well! Now that we're all safely unconscious and in the care of Angeal and a medical team, I'll just wander off and -  
****Five: *revives momentarily* Leave this hanging for more than a week and a half and I'll personally - *passes out*  
run: *sighs* Well, alright, I _suppose_ I can actually get back to regularly updating. Though I do have the need to make obscene amounts of peppermint bark this weekend, not to mention to Christmas tree hunting.  
Yuffie: *runs by shrieking* I WANT SOME! And I demand more screen time!  
****run: Alright, alright, but only if you beat my scanner into cooperation so I can scan some art! *waves* Well, 'bye all, I'm off to have a rant session with my wonderful friend xD Review please, and I shall see you all again soon, never fear! :)**


	53. Taking Inventory

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: If I don't include this, what percent chance do you think I have of getting out of math midyears tomorrow due to the SWAT team kicking down my door in the middle of the night?**

**A/N: What? It sounds like a good idea to me! But I'm gonna get right down to business and say that in terms of the month and a half delay: to hell with it, I'm a junior in high school taking extra high-level classes and trying to get enough drivings in before May to get my license sometime in the next decade and going to ski practices and races six days of the week with a weekend job and one freaking back-asswards personal life. ...And yeah, it's totally my fault. Well, except for the last one, ha. Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad or anything if you nagged me about updating - I actually need that. I'm just annoyed that I can't do one of the things that I really love. IGNORE ME. I LOVE YOU ALL AS MUCH AS CHOCOLATE. ^^'**

**By the way: calling all FMA fans, I have a poll up regarding a plot bunny for an OC crackfic. Take a look at the options - what I want is feedback! Thank you :) And now I give you the chapter! :D Only warning: excessive injuries (but no blood.)**

**Chapter 53: Taking Inventory**

**1949 hours**

Aerith sighed heavily, narrating out loud to herself the notes she was making across the contents of three different file folders. "Broken wrist, fractured femur, grade two concussion, shattered kneecap, lacerations to the abdomen and leg, radius fractured in two places; two gunshot wounds, one surface and one penetrated; sprained ankle, stab wound to the shoulder, hopeless case of idiocy—gah! This is insane," she groaned.

She looked across the room, to where the three beds were separated by curtains. This was the SOLDIER ward, so no one else was in here at the time. It was a good thing, too, because technically this was a massive breach in protocol. The brunette shook her head for what felt like the millionth time in the past several hours and moved on to Diana Loveless' (technically nonexistent and probably illegal) file. "Dislocated shoulder, broken foot in the tarsal _and_ metatarsal regions, shin fracture, grade two concussion, seven broken ribs, three broken fingers, broken nose, dislocated hip; lacerations to the back, side, and hand; surface gunshot wound to the torso, dangerously abused vertebrae at the neck, knack for attracting danger—oh, right." She coughed not-so-subtly. "Ahem."

And yet, at the same time she was thanking Gaia nonstop and profusely that nothing worse had befallen her two friends and their new acquaintance, whoever he might be. But those questions were best left for later, when no lives were in immediate danger. "Now as for you, it looks like you've gained quite the track record here," she murmured in regard to Five's information. "Curious how you don't exist, according to our DNA databases."

But he was a patient, and would be treated as such, explanations forthwithcoming or not. "Grade three concussion, all twenty-four ribs broken or fractured, broken hand in the carpal region, pulled hamstring, arm broken in three places, broken collarbone, nearly-dislocated jaw, both shins fractured; lacerations to the arm, chest, and stomach; surface gunshot wound to the shoulder and a penetrated one to the foot, minor internal bleeding, two cracked vertebrae, twisted ankle, a possible shoulder hyperextension…and two broken fingers. Jeez…" she sighed, signing her name in the appropriate places and adding the files to a stack that was accumulating for one of her superiors to sign off on.

"But the good news is that at least you've all stabilized quite nicely." The brunette smiled in the direction of her patients as she picked up the stack of file folders. She had acquired the habit of chattering away to the people under her care, whether they were able or wanted to respond or not. No one seemed to mind, and it made her feel better somehow.

She turned and lugged the packs of paper away, intending to return momentarily to keep watch over her friends. She was working overtime right now anyway; she had been halfway through packing up to leave for the day when she got the standard message about the ambulance coming in—and then she had learned who the occupants were and immediately abandoned her office. They should be waking up before too long anyway, even with their degrees of injuries, and she wanted to be there. So she hurried off.

* * *

"This is absolutely ridiculous," Tifa fumed as Cloud steered her into the elevator. This was a rather insightful precautionary measure on his part when the alternative was the stairs, as he knew that she was much less likely to destroy things and more likely to calm down faster in a confined space.

"Look on the bright side; we wouldn't have known at all if Aerith hadn't paged us," Cloud implored her, glancing with worry at the manner in which Tifa was abusing the elevator buttons. He gently pulled her hands away and she took the hint, huffing and leaning back against him.

"Yeah, I suppose so. Thank Gaia for Aerith," she smiled absently. "They're all stable now, too." Her chocolate eyes narrowed. "Though I'd like very much to know who the third musketeer is. But obviously they're not going to be in any kind of condition to do much explaining; they're probably all exhausted half to death."

"Not to mention medicated out of their minds," Cloud supplied helpfully. "Obviously it's going to bother me, but I feel way worse for them compared to my curiosity. They're both going to want to explain as fully as they can and hopefully only run through it once…"

"Because it _will_ be that complicated," Tifa sighed, finishing his thought.

"You know it," he chuckled. "Only them."

The elevator pinged, and they abandoned their temporary calm to shoot out the door before it was halfway open, taking off down a hallway and turning several corners before they got to the right ward—the SOLDIER ward, and by Cloud's reckoning this was probably quite under the radar. The double doors weren't locked, so Cloud shrugged and pushed one open, holding it for Tifa.

It was rather obvious that the ward only had three occupants, and the curtains were drawn around each bed. Cloud could still clearly hear the beeping of monitors and machines, though, and he could even pick up on their breathing and heartbeats if he listened. Half of getting used to having enhanced senses was learning how to use them selectively. You couldn't be distracted by every heartbeat in a room, or every conversation taking place all the way down a long hall. It kind of messed with your head, and it took practice to sort things out and then use it to your advantage.

No one was in the room, either, but the pair figured that Aerith would be back before too long and so they settled down in two visitors' chairs by a table at the end of the room. It didn't feel right to look in on their friends just yet; more-than-siblings best friends or not. So they waited, speaking in quiet murmurs, their hands linked between them.

About four minutes later, Aerith breezed in the door that was nearer to Cloud.

"Hey, Aerith," Tifa smiled gently, though she was developing a tic in her leg from being so tightly wound, even if she wasn't showing it.

"Hello Tifa, hello Cloud, I'm glad to see you're here," Aerith smiled back, although there was still a faint worry line between her brows. "I just had to take their files to my boss—their medical records needed updating, obviously," she chuckled dryly. She thought about it for a moment and realized that they wouldn't have looked in on the patients. "Would you like to see them? I was about to open those up anyway, get some air moving for them. They should be waking up fairly soon; we stopped the input of the general anesthetic a little bit ago, though they're still being heavily medicated for the pain. Forty-nine bones broken between the three of them." She shook her head wearily.

Tifa's mouth dropped open before she could help it. "_Forty-nine_?"

"Well, that's counting the fractures, too; also, some bones are broken in a couple places, like Zack's arm," Aerith reasoned.

"Did they all need the OR?" Cloud asked quietly as Aerith moved to pull back the curtains to the first bed.

"In varying degrees of severity, yes," the Cetra replied. "Their mystery friend was in the worst shape; Zack's a First Class SOLDIER so he didn't do too badly in comparison; and Diana was somewhere in between. Here." She finally got the curtain rings to cooperate and yanked the fabric back, revealing Diana with an IV in her arm and electrodes taped to her skin.

And wrapped in lots and lots of bandages.

Her leg was elevated by a sling, on account of her foot—broken in several places—and a shin fracture. A bandage was taped across her nose, the breaking of which had gifted her with two colorful black eyes that were just barely starting to fade. (Normally, the mako in her system would have healed that up immediately, but it was a logical conclusion that her body was trying to preserve its more important parts first.) Her right hand was wrapped up with three of the fingers taped together, there was a splint on her left index finger, and even with the hospital gown it was evident that her torso was thickly bandaged.

Her two visiting friends were speechless.

"We had a neck brace on her for a while there, but there was no actual damage to the vertebrae once the mako took effect so that will be alright," Aerith began to fill them in. She knew that at the moment all they wanted was facts and reassurance. Sometimes, that was the only thing that could help. "You can probably tell that her midsection isn't that big around normally; that's because her ribs are taped and she had some surface wounds to her side and back."

"How many ribs did she break?" Cloud asked absently, taking inventory himself.

"Seven, if I remember correctly." Which she usually did. "Although our unnamed patient didn't have a single one that escaped breaking or fracture."

"All twenty-four?" Tifa's eyes widened.

"That either takes boxing with a behemoth or an attack from someone of SOLDIER strength," Cloud declared. That made a sudden thought strike him. "Hey, you don't think…they were fighting? I mean Di and Zack against this other guy."

"I suppose it could make sense, but if our mystery man was strong enough to do all this," Aerith waved a hand at Diana as a whole, "I highly doubt he would be as injured as he is. And besides, Zack called Angeal for help as though he was with two friends," she pointed out.

"That's right," Tifa mused. "I forgot about that, too." She chuckled. "I hate to think of the damage to his ego."

"One: a hundred gil says Diana bullied him into it, and two: even if that wasn't the case…" Cloud glanced down at his unconscious sometimes-friend-sometimes-roommate as the heart monitors continued to beep serenely. "It can only get to a certain point before you realize you have to throw away your pride."

There was a moment of silence, and then Aerith walked around the bed to pull that section of curtains back as well before moving on down to the third bed in the lineup. "Well, in any case let's have a look at our favorite SOLDIER, shall we?"

Cloud made a mock affronted noise and Tifa laughed gently, squeezing his hand. Aerith revealed Zack's significantly larger frame to the others in the room after a fair amount of wrestling with the darned hook apparatus…thingy. Both of his legs were also hoisted above the bed, due to a fractured left femur and an absolutely shattered right kneecap. His arm and wrist were splinted, as was one ankle, and his arm, shoulder, and torso were bandaged, his torso almost as much as Diana's was.

"Yeah, Zack had more slash wounds than Diana, for sure," Aerith sighed, planted her hands on her hips worriedly. "We sent all three into surgery to remove bullets, prevent internal damage, et cetera—there was no other faster way since they've actually all apparently been the recipients of mako treatments," she stated somewhat grimly.

Tifa and Cloud both turned to stare at her, and she sighed heavily. "Hence the extensive questioning that will have to be undertaken at a later time."

"Yeah, guess so…" Tifa muttered. "Wait a second. Bullets?" she asked in confusion as she went over the previous sentence in her head.

"They were obviously engaged in close combat," Cloud continued her train of thought. "So how would they have been shot at?"

"Based on the wounds, the shots were obviously fired at very close range," Aerith supplied, worriedly seeing where this was going. "One of the surgeons said forty feet at the absolute maximum."

Their imaginations could easily supply the issues that the piece of evidence would have caused in the actual fight.

"Not only that, but the bullets were of different calibers," Aerith continued. "Which implies multiple weapons."

"Probably from multiple people anyway," Tifa reasoned, "based on their…injuries, that is."

"So whoever it was that attacked them was either prepared to go at them long-range—" _like cowards_, Cloud added bitterly to himself—"and their plans got seriously messed up, or they were just plain prepared wrong."

"I'd bet on the first any day," Tifa stated what they were all thinking.

"Well, there's no use coming to false conclusions—they'll be around soon enough," Aerith pointed out hopefully after a few seconds of pensive silence from them all. "In any case, let's see about this third man of ours."

"Yes, let's," Tifa agreed sternly, deciding that it was no crime if she took the liberty of throwing back the curtain herself.

She wasn't sure what she had been anticipating, but the man on the hospital bed—whom she didn't trust for an instant without Zack's or Diana's express word—looked unexpectedly innocent. Besides his obvious terrible physical condition, the first thing that struck her was how very ordinary he appeared to be. In comparison with the statures of Diana and Zack, he was of an average size all around, with medium brown—if still slightly blood-and-dust-caked—hair.

"Now I wonder what your story is," Cloud said, so quietly that Tifa scarcely heard him. She turned to look questioningly at the young man behind her, but he just continued his contemplative look. "I can just tell he isn't really as plain as he seems," the blonde shrugged, giving his girlfriend a small smile.

"Well, we did have the worst time with him," Aerith half-laughed nervously. "Almost thought we were going to lose him for a little while there."

Tifa's eyes widened. "That bad? And he's mako-infused?"

"Technically they all are at the moment," Aerith indicated one of the syringes on a table by the rolling IV stand, "but yes, they all were beforehand regardless."

"Incredible," Tifa whispered, shuddering to think how it could have been so much worse.

The man's entire arm was splinted, as well as supported by a sling. His ribs were taped nearly beyond recognition, and his chest was a mass of bandages underneath the hospital gown. His hand was splinted and taped, as were his two fractured shins, and his shoulder and foot were bandaged where bullets had passed through or been removed. His ankle and two of his fingers were taped up, and maneuvering around all of that was a light but complex-looking back brace.

"Yep, I think he merits the most damage control," Cloud decided, nodding with faint concern.

"You're right about that," Aerith sighed, adjusting one of the monitors and taking his vitals just to be sure, as his condition was clearly the most severe. "A few of those ribs managed to just barely puncture one of his lungs, so this was breathing for him for a little bit." She indicated a machine set off to the side.

The sight made Tifa shudder involuntarily. She was no cream puff, but hospital equipment had always freaked her out a little bit. Even routine visits to the doctor made her irrationally nervous—and don't get her started on the times when they had to take blood. Cloud felt her shiver and relinquished his hold on her hand to wrap an arm around her shoulders instead.

"They should all be coming around before too long," Aerith said quickly, noting her friend's discomfort. "You two can stay around here as long as you like!"

They took that to heart. It was nearly eight-thirty when all three heads in the room swiveled suddenly to face the faint sounds coming from one of the hospital beds. Cloud stopped his pacing. Aerith paused in her hand-wringing, and Tifa stopped looking like she was getting increasingly closer to the point of knocking a hole in the wall.

A few seconds of silence passed, and then it was back: a kind of wheezing, groaning noise that Cloud soon realized was Zack's breathing as he came to. "That's Zack!" the blonde exclaimed, whizzing across the room to his best friend's side.

The older man still looked terrible, of course, but he began to look less like a corpse when he started struggling back to the waking world. His three friends clustered around the hospital bed; not too close, but close enough to see the sweat still running down his temples simply with the effort of coming back to consciousness.

They didn't realize that, only feet away from them, Diana would have been screaming had she been lucid.

"Why does it look so painful for him?" Tifa turned to Aerith anxiously.

The brunette bit her lip and winced slightly. "It's probably one of the drugs we had to inject into his bloodstream. Sodium pentothal can be used to medically induce a coma—we didn't have to go that far, thank Gaia, but in slightly smaller doses it's also a slightly outdated anesthesia. It can be the best choice sometimes because of the chemical makeup of mako in the bloodstream, so we were using it before we put them all on morphine drips," she explained, gesticulating nervously, then took a deep breath. "But we also have to be careful with it because of another use it has. It's sometimes used in psychiatry to help relieve patients of phobias or similar things, because…" She faltered and looked slightly guilty. "Because it can facilitate the recall of painful suppressed memories."

"_Painful suppressed memories_?" Cloud repeated after a second of silence punctuated by Zack's hard breathing. "Okay, these three take 'reliving bad memories' to a whole other level—at least, she does, and so does Zack!" He pointed across at the hospital bed containing Diana's slightly stirring form.

"The others wouldn't listen to me when I asked them to consider other options!" Aerith protested. "We didn't have any time to think about it, Cloud; they were _dying_."

**A/N: Well, they _were_ - GAH! *ducks mysterious projectile* I know I almost killed them off! I was trying to be scientific and all that crap, don't hurl things at me! O_0 Yeah, so, I did a little bit of research, it probably isn't perfect but I somehow doubt anyone here is an M.D. so I think I'm safe :P (If, however, there is in fact a doctor in the house, please correct me!) Oh, and yeah, Diana's kind of semidelirious, but that's in the next chapter. They're not in lifelong comas or anything, though, so don't worry _too_ too much. Review please, and I'll see you next time, which shall be soon! :)**


	54. A Quite Unconventional Action Drama

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Yes, I'm alive to write one of these. *HACK* Er...I didn't say it would be clever.**

**A/N: Ugh, it's too bad I can't focus on writing when I'm sick :/ So I kind of caught what people were calling the [Insert Name of High School Here] Plague. Twice. With about four days in between, during which I gave it to my mom and my dad practically reached the verge of purchasing a ventillator mask and a poolfull of Purell. It was highly unpleasant -.-' Anyhoo. Anyone else sitting there pointing and laughing at all those poor saps who've got to figure out what to do with their significant other for Valentine's Day? I AM. xD Sure, I wouldn't mind a boyfriend. But if I don't think too hard about it I like to pretend that it isn't worth the effort on this particular day of the year!**

**Of course I'm back! *scoffs* I never leave; not really. Probably never will. Ohh these crazy people x) Yeah, it would indeed be a little strange for them to all recover immediately -.- (I've been making conscious efforts for avoid Mary-Sue-ness for quite a while now, haha.) They'll be okay in the long run, though...or will they?**

**And this chapter goes to Sarah K.R.! 300TH REVIEWER! Squeee! ^_^ Thank you guys ALL so much though, for sticking with me while the story grows as I do. Even though things are starting to culminate - especially because of that - I'm trying to make the writing as good as it can be for you! I love you all so much! :3**

**Chapter 54: A Quite Unconventional Action Drama**

"_Painful suppressed memories_?" Cloud repeated after a second of silence punctuated by Zack's hard breathing. "Okay, these three take 'reliving bad memories' to a whole other level—at least, she does, and so does Zack!" He pointed across at the hospital bed containing Diana's slightly stirring form.

"The others wouldn't listen to me when I asked them to consider other options!" Aerith protested. "We didn't have any time to think about it, Cloud; they were _dying_."

* * *

Two beds away, Diana's consciousness was currently split into two parts. One part was screaming in delirium and denial, and the other was trying desperately to rationalize what was happening to her.

The drug that had been used on the three of them was indeed causing traumatizing memories to come flooding into her mind all at once. She could handle a reminder once in a while, but these were rushing her too quickly, and simultaneously. The sheer amount of information that felt like it was being jammed into her head was enough to make anyone dance on the edge of sanity, but she really couldn't handle the scenes blinking in and out of focus in front of her and the voices echoing hollowly around her skull at frequencies that were making her nauseous.

Her rational side was telling her that she must be having a nightmare or something similar, and for a second she was reminded of a nightmare she'd had weeks ago, where she was kneeling on the ground and the scenery kept shifting just as soon as she could focus. The one where Zack had appeared with that revolted expression on his face and cast her away into the snow—

Oh, no, no, not another reminder, she couldn't take this, she couldn't possibly live through the implosion and explosion of her brain all at once, not while she was thinking about these things—

No; she had to calm down. This wasn't a nightmare, because she could feel herself waking up, and it was a struggle. She fought a battle against her memory, shoving the violent reds and blacks down so she could recall what had just happened to her. Her breath began to heave with the effort, and then she realized with a small spark of clarity that that meant she couldn't be dead. Her next thought was that she'd been captured by the enemy - imprisoned, tortured, et cetera - until she remembered that at the point of her losing consciousness she had been in the back of a Shinra ambulance with Angeal and Zack and Five and the paramedics… Yes, that was it! So if she was in fact alive… She suddenly realized that she could hear several series of beeping from different distances around her. Oh, of course; this was familiar enough. That probably wasn't a good thing, but whatever.

She was becoming lucid enough that the torrent of psychological torture was ebbing, and she was almost sure that she could feel sweat coming out on her brow. She could feel her body; she was no longer floating around inside her own head. However, she was also overcome with an almost panicked need to know where she was, and tried to force her eyes open, as she could now tell that they had been closed this whole time.

Then she realized that she was breathing like she was running a marathon, and the coolness she felt along her skin meant she was sweating like it too. She could sense—hear?—four other people—no, five—to her left, and noticed that one of them was doing the same thing that she was. Finally she pulled her left eye open; it was difficult because of the grittiness, as if she had come out of a long sleep. (Who knew how long it had been, anyway? For all she knew, she was coming out of a six-month coma! But, no…she wouldn't be this sore.) She would have groaned if her throat had cooperated, but it was too dry, and throbbing like the rest of her. Immediately after getting a glimpse of her surroundings, she shut her eye again, fast. "Surroundings" meaning the glaringness of the split second when you walk into somewhere bright and your eyes can't adjust fast enough. Pain shot back into her skull, but she tried it again, this time with both eyes.

After a few attempts it got better, and allowed her to take note of the fact that she indeed seemed to be in a hospital. Her nose wasn't lying, either; it smelled very clean, besides the dried and not-so-dried sweat-and-blood combo coming off her and two of the people to her left—two people!

Zack and Five were okay, then. They weren't in a morgue. She would have brought them back to life and killed them again herself if she had to see either of them in a body bag, anyway. Thank Gaia they were alright, though, because she really wouldn't know where to find a Phoenix Down to—

**I don't believe that would be necessary; do you?**

Diana fairly jumped out of her skin, and her heartbeat skittered a little on the machine that she now realized was taking readings of just that.

_Wow. Um…well, no. Mostly I'd be really mad._

**Or you would all just be mostly, well, dead.**

_Hmph. Great. There's one way to put it; fantastic. Hang on, I'm not allowed to be dead and mad at the same time? ! What kind of deal is that- ?_

**Apologies, child. I know you've had a trying day.**

_Ahhh, so we _haven't_ been in a six-month coma—! Er, right. Yeah, you're right; a little bit. But we got out of it and we're all alive, if a little worse for the wear. But it's nothing we can't get over, right?_

**…**

_In the name of all the gods above and below, please just tell me now if any of us had any extremities amputated. Mental damage due to spinal cord injury? Sepsis? Permanent disfiguration? AMNESIA? !_

**Calm now, calm. No, you're all intact and in perfectly—well, all things considered—in relatively good health. For now.**

_…WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY—_

**Hush. You know I can't go beyond that. My, you're excitable for only being half-conscious. That aside, I suggest that you speak with your new friend Five. I fear he will not recover as you and Zack will. That is all.**

_Wait…but…? Ugh._

She paused, but the goddess' presence was gone.

"Look, look—Aerith, Diana's coming around too!"

A voice invaded upon her ears before it was shushed gently by another, causing Diana to open one cracked eyelid just a little more.

She basically got a face full of yellow.

"Cloud, move _back_! Just because they aren't on breathing tubes anymore doesn't mean they don't need space for oxygen!"

Oh, man, how volume utterly sucked.

Aerith went on, sounding quite aghast—and oblivious to her friend's pained and not so nice thoughts. "She was having a conversation with Gaia; you don't interrupt spiritual encounters!"

_O-kay, that's a tad freaky._ Then Diana realized that Aerith would have felt the mental pressure, if it could be called that, from the presence of the goddess. She hadn't intruded, though; that made Diana wonder if she even could have. And then she decided that she would think about less complicated things. She still did have a killer headache, after all, despite (probably) the obscene quantities of drugs she was on right now. Actually, it was more like an everything-with-nerve-endings ache, but that was getting technical.

If her life was some overworked action drama, her eyes would have snapped straight open and she would have made a profound, dire proclamation, preferably about revenge or a deep, torturous confession.

Instead her eyelids fought her all the way, convulsively trying to blink the bleariness away, and when she tried to come out with some kind of statement all she got was a hoarse gagging noise that sounded rather like a goose being strangled.

So she decided that her life was just a really freaking unorthodox action drama.

"She _is_ awake! Tifa! What about Zack?"

"Mm-hm, he's here, all right. Nice of you to join us, kid." (Zack bristled halfheartedly at his friend's choice of words.)

_Volume control, people. VOLUME. FREAKING. CONTROL_. Diana knew she didn't have any semblance of mental skills, even in the loosest sense of the word; whenever she had a "divine encounter" she knew Gaia was doing all the work for her. But she figured maybe some of it stuck around with her for a minute, because suddenly Aerith shushed both of her mobile friends, saying that the patients' senses were, well, sensitive.

"Mrrrrkksss ssnnnnd ikk nnvvvrrrds." Well, Zack's first attempt sure sounded better than Diana's had, even if it was a relative term. After several seconds that consisted of everyone standing holding their breath to see if he would try again, Zack did.

This time, Cloud was correctly interpreted his friend's muttering. "Zack, it sounds that way 'cause you three _are_ invalids at the moment. I don't care if it's damaging your ego."

Diana couldn't stop her instinct to laugh at that—this whole convoluted exchange between the people in the room was just so darn typical, so ridiculously normal that she basically just lost it and cracked up.

Speaking of cracking, that was what it felt like her ribs were doing when she began to guffaw, or rather, hack. Her lip split again as she grinned madly, but she really didn't care.

"Hey, guys," she coughed, pleased with her formation of words. "What's up?"

She could also tell that Five was awake. He had made barely any noise as he roused himself, but she knew that he was comprehending the events transpiring around him with nearly perfect clarity.

So she indulged her farcical desire for a good old action drama line.

"Just thought you oughta kno—" she made a face as she turned slightly towards Five and the word got stuck somewhere between her diaphragm and her trachea— "know: I'm going to kill your mystery leader."

Well, as one might imagine, that went over like a ton of bricks.

**2208 hours**

Diana was lying with her eyes closed again, dozing off once in a while only to be woken by discomfort. Earlier, any and all questions had either been abandoned or averted (mostly the former) once Diana, Zack, and Five had woken up. They had exchanged this…sentiment, Diana decided, in an exhausted and vaguely desperate glance that they had passed among themselves; it said that they were grateful for their safety on the whole, but the details would be picked through later. It had been a strange connection, but a link nonetheless.

None of them were sleeping for real, and they all knew it, but they were too tired to do anything but try. Besides the physical and psychological strain, fights zapped energy completely once the last dregs of the post-battle adrenaline wore off. It was like running a marathon: sure, your legs were tired and your lungs felt like they'd been scoured and hung out to dry; but you also felt as though you were collapsing from the inside out. That accounted for a lot of energy lost.

For about the millionth time, Diana remembered how much she disliked being stuck in one position. Looking at the clock every time that she realized she had fallen asleep and had woken up again wasn't helping, either, but she thought she just might be getting relaxed enough to doze off for more than three minutes at a time.

At least, until an out-of-place sound slapped her into full awareness, knocking her senses into immediate, automatic overdrive.

Her eyes went to the only movement in the room besides the blinking heart monitors and carbon monoxide and smoke alarms. The only alarming thing here was that the light underneath the outside door was being blocked by something. It was the door leading to one of the hallways that twisted through the hospital wing, instead of the one connecting to another ward.

In other words, the door that anyone that wasn't infirmary personnel would have to come through after navigating the hallways, and the only way in from that direction was the front office and lobby. There were fire escapes in the event of an emergency (although no one was exactly sure how a bedridden person was supposed to use one of those) so it wasn't like it was a one-entrance-one-exit deal, but a nurse would come in through another ward because every second room had an exit to the offices, which all connected in one way or another. No one really completely understood it.

Reminiscent of a horror movie, the door swung open silently to admit two silent, dark, quick-moving figures. The door was swiftly closed again and the lever on the knob was returned to the lock position.

_Now, if I were immobile and in a hospital with a friend and my boyfriend when two people came into the supposedly locked room silently, what would I do_… Diana thought mildly. And it was really not okay with her that she was the furthest from said door.

If Zack could have seen the facial responses of Five and Diana lined up next to his expression at this little turn of events, he probably would have laughed at the near identicalness. He was struggling to keep his face blank and smooth as if he were sleeping, but otherwise he probably would have looked quite frustrated in his calculating.

There were two of them. Males, and he could tell they were wearing dark colors even in the darkness of the room. And even though their heads were swiveling in what might have even passed for confusion, he highly doubted they were having any more trouble seeing than he was.

If Five had woken up any later than he did, just as the two figures were entering the room, he might have missed the circumstances of what was happening. He was much more heavily medicated than Diana and Zack were, and had been drifting in and out of consciousness for some time now. His energies were so utterly drained, and this thing called a bed that he had never slept in before was so comfortable, that all he really wanted to do was hibernate for a few weeks and then devour the contents of about three refrigerators.

But he did wake up then. And he registered just enough for his fight-or-flight instinct to kick in before things got really exciting.

_I think that, ordinarily, I might start yelling._ Diana continued her inner musing, keeping her eyes locked on target. _But if someone had tried to have us all killed earlier that day, that might change to something like this—_

She shifted her left hand slightly beneath the covers, and, realizing there was no time to lose, forced herself into a sitting position that made her head whirl. Her reflexes were slower than usual, but the two intruders were clearly surprised when she moved as spontaneously as she did.

"Against the wall, _now_," she snarled.

She cocked the twenty-five-inch submachine gun in her hand menacingly.

"Before I have to pick which appendage to blow off first. I can fire this just as well with either hand."

Okay, so the reaction wasn't quite what she had expected.

**A/N: EHE. HEHEHEHEHE. She _would_ pull a stunt like that. But on the topic of the slightly more pressing matter at the moment: gah! Intruders! What's up with that? ! Panic if you wish - and please throw some guesses out there as to the circumstances of this little debacle :P Sorry that not much happened this time around...but, well, let's see _you_ get up after that! Am I right? Haha. Five says REVIEW from the land of semiconsciousness! o.0 I'll see you again before too long! :D Thanks for reading!**


	55. The Meaning of Discomfort

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: If I owned this universe, I'd be waving it quite convincingly in the faces of everything that gets in the way of my writing about it -.-**

**A/N: _Warning you now, the A/N and attached offshoots are a bit long. Feel free to scroll after this paragraph._ Yes, it's been another month and a half. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I usually try to write a good three chapters (at least) ahead of where I'm posting from, so I never run out of posting material and can let it sit for a while before going back and editing. That's how I can usually manage four-day-to-weekly updates. H-o-w-e-v-e-r. I'm sure you're all aware that I hit a hard decline starting last summer, hence the past lack of motivation, which snowballed into me now writing and posting immediately. This is literally only as far as I've written. But it'll actually be getting better from here on out, as I had some difficulty planning this little filler period (it'll get crazy before too long, don't you worry!) so I just want to say thank you (if you're bothering to read my ramblings) for being so patient (or at least pretending to be) waiting for updates, and putting up with my crappy schedule and occasional antagonistic rantings when I _did _update, and for still reviewing even though I haven't responded to any either here or via PM in Gaia-only-knows-how-long (sorry, really; I'm determined to get better at replying), and for sticking with me this far. Thank you all.**

**A point of interest: I recently wrote a prepping-for-college-essays English piece about this story, specifically Diana, and how it's inspired me. I actually rather liked it! I talked about how writing and getting absorbed in a story is such an incredible escape; how I tried not to fall into the territory of the Mary-Sue and yet how I still idolize my OC for all her oh-so-human imperfections; how inventing problems that aren't my own and are certainly a heck of a lot more exciting than my own life teaches me how to be strong and how to deal with the world...I could go on :P Maybe I'll actually revise it and use it in the fall! Who knows? :D**

**Another amusing note: I officially joined pole vault this year on my school's track team and I cleared 7 feet (over an elasticy bungee cord thingy instead of a real bar, since we were only just learning) yesterday at practice! xD It's soooo much FUN! And it was totally no pressure 'cause the experience vaulters were like, well, they'll have to try to swing at some point, so what the heck, let's see if they can do this; and all of us that were learning did awesome :3 I have mat burn on my hands and leg, but do I care? ! NOPE!**

**Oh, hah...I DID leave you with a cliffhanger last time, didn't I? Hehehe...hehe...heh...=.= whoops.**

**ONWARD! CHARGE! !**

**Chapter 55: In Which Everyone Relearns the Meaning of Discomfort**

Okay, so the reaction wasn't quite what she had expected.

"Holy _crap_, put that thing down!" squawked one in a moderately familiar voice.

"Gaaahh! I always knew you were paranoid, but dear gods!" yelled the other over the first.

When Diana had pulled the gun out, Zack had raised his head up in surprise, figuring it was worth abandoning his pretense of sleep. _Gods above, where had she been _hiding_ that thing?_

"What in the seven hells?" Five muttered groggily, having to judge the situation again based on these sudden developments. "Would someone please just get the _lights_?"

"I can't _move!_" Zack retorted huffily.

"Er, I'll do it—"

"Don't move!" Diana roared at the first intruder's suggestion. "I'm going for the kneecaps first!"

"Di, would you—"

"I'm not going to '_calm down_'!" she growled at Zack. "For all I know, they're impersonating our friends to—"

"All we want to do is visit—"

"—And this is what we get?"

"How are we supposed to tell?" Zack barked in Five's general direction, ignoring the two potential assailants.

"Well, how should _I_ know? It's _your_ friends that they're supposed to be!"

"Can I just go over here and—?"

"If you want a permanent hole in your skull, then by all means, go ahea—"

Everyone stopped yelling all at once as they all heard the same noise as the same time.

Someone was entering through the other door.

"Busted," whispered one of the gatecrashers almost inaudibly, presumably to the other.

"Run for it and it will be the last thing you do," Diana promised them at the same volume, gritting her teeth.

The door opened and dim light filtered in around the figure in the doorway.

"What is going _on_ in here?" a mild female voice asked in exasperated irritation. The figure made to step into the room and so into the line of sight of the two intruders.

"Aerith, no!" Zack yelled, sitting up abruptly and gasping quietly in pain.

But she had already fumbled for and found the light switch.

Everybody either blinked or flinched in the sudden brightness of the overhead panel lights.

The first thing Aerith saw was Diana in the bed closest to her, sitting up and supporting herself with the hand that was no longer visibly bruised but still had two broken fingers. What was more noticeable, though, was the submachine gun in her other hand.

The two bedridden men just looked confused and mildly angry, and were looking back and forth between Aerith, Diana, and—

Two ninjas? Well, all told, there were two men dressed in black standing close to the wall across from the three beds. And how, she wondered peevishly, could they have gotten in in the first place?

"Thank Gaia!" one yelped suddenly, interrupting her thoughts.

"Aerith, save us!" the other wailed.

The brunette blinked, glancing incredulously once more at Diana—specifically, her fierce expression coupled with the weapon. Then she took a closer look at the two men who had their heads turned towards her in desperation.

Her eyebrows shot up, and then she began to partake in the yelling as well. "Shane, Maximilian, you miscreants! Must you harass my patients? !"

"_WHAT?_" Diana blustered.

"Aerith, wait! What if it isn't them?" Zack protested.

"I'm sure of—"

"Well I'm not!"

"Diana, for Gaia's sake just calm down with the paranoia—"

"Yeah? ! Let's see how calm _you_ are a couple hours after people try to _assassinate you!_"

"DIANA!" Aerith fairly bellowed, sending the room into thunderstruck silence. "If I am wrong and it is _not_ your two friends, I give you full permission to shoot their kneecaps into oblivion however much you please!"

Zack's left eye twitched a couple of times.

"Now—you two!" The medic whirled on the would-be roommates, who actually visibly cringed. "Take off those ridiculous ski masks so that Diana _doesn't_ shoot you into oblivion and regret it later!" she commanded them.

"Right away!"

"Yup, yup, on it!"

They hastily fumbled with the stretchy fabric covering ninety-five percent of their heads and yanked off the ski masks to face Diana and the gun. Their respective heads of hair looked like they'd been assaulted by alarming amounts of static electricity, which made them look rather ridiculous.

She blinked. She raised an eyebrow. She shrugged and then burst out laughing.

"You—you—you utter _morons!_ Hahaha—what are you even doing he—he—here—aaaaahahahaha!"

Five turned to Zack, who was barely holding back a snort of amusement. "Is this…normal?" he inquired, half serious and half in confusion.

"Well, ah…" Zack looked around him to where Diana had tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes in between guffaws and gasps of "ow." His brow wrinkled slightly. "You know, um, I'm not entirely sure. But I do love her for her slight insanity." He smiled softly at that.

"All right, now that you're satisfied," Aerith huffed from the corner, treating Max and Shane to half a glare each. "You have fifteen minutes. If you're still here after twenty, I'm calling security on you and you will not like it. Goodnight and for the Goddess' sake get some sleep tonight!" And with an admonishing wag of a finger the Cetra disappeared back out the door.

Max looked at Zack for confirmation. "She isn't serious, is she?"

"Oh, no, she is." Zack was effectively pulled from his thoughts and tried to nod emphatically, but quickly discovered that this caused him quite a bit of undue discomfort and abandoned the effort. "I've pushed her to that point just a couple times…two, maybe three? Well anyhow, it isn't pretty," he advised in a covert stage whisper. "I barely escaped with my life, but due to my quick wits and capabilities..." He let that hang, and flashed a cheeky grin at Diana, who leveled her gray gaze at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You pulled some terribly dirty tricks to get out of that one, didn't you," she deadpanned.

"My dear, I _always_ pull dirty tricks," he continued to grin wickedly.

Diana attempted to roll her eyes along with a toss of her head, but got much of the same result that Zack had in regards to abrupt movements, especially from the neck up: a distinct sensation of "ow."

Thankfully, she was saved from trying to respond to that. She wasn't about to deny that she could still be completely thrown off her cool by the irrepressible man she was in love with.

"I almost forgot—" said the interruption.

"YEEAAAAAGH! IT'S ONLY BEEN A MINUTE, IT'S ONLY BEEN A—"

"Shut up, you moron, you'll wake up the whole damn hospital!" Shane scoffed at his partner in crime.

"Oh, like you didn't just jump three feet too—"

"Hush, you two," Aerith sighed, her arms full of what looked like the laundry. "I've brought all your clothes and supplies back; I didn't want you waking up in a panic tomorrow," she smiled wryly. "By the way, Di, why was your belt only halfway attached to your pants?" she inquired out of pure curiosity.

Half of the people in the room burst out laughing at this, and Five quietly chuckled, having stayed mute for a while now.

"Someone didn't try to take advantage of you, did they?" Aerith continued anxiously when the thought crossed her mind, which stopped the laughing temporarily.

"Doesn't have anything to do with the belt, but yeah, almost. I beat the crap out of the guy and kicked him out a window and down three stories, mostly with my hands tied," Diana summarized with a bit of sick pride.

Five turned his head towards her. "Was it Eight?" he inquired.

"Bingo."

"Bastard," he concluded, scowling.

"You know, that doesn't explain the whole belt thing," Shane pointed out, starting to snigger again.

"Oh, right, that." Diana airily waved the hand that had previously been inflicting a death grip upon the (also as of yet unexplained) gun. "I used it as an impromptu weapon and didn't have the time to get it the rest of the way back on."

"Of course. Of bloody course," Max groaned.

"Somehow I find that reassuring," Aerith muttered bemusedly to herself.

Zack laughed, having heard his friend. "Thanks a lot, Aerith. We'll still be right where you left us tomorrow; goodnight."

"Yes, you certainly had better be." She glowered meaningfully at the two intruding Thirds. Goodnight, all of you." And she departed for good this time.

This basically meant that the three patients had to make another joint effort to tell a concise version of the whole messed up story a second time.

Which, in turn, unfortunately forced Diana to have to sell her lie about the mysterious absence of her "brother" through all this, however much she tried to steer the conversation away from that topic.

As soon as she had realized that sleep would most likely not come easily to her that night, she had begun formulating a story in her head that would be consistent with her roommates' ignorance, the appearance of the twelve assassins, and a certain Third Class SOLDIER's continued absence. Five had glanced over at her a couple times and, eventually guessing what she was thinking so hard about, gave her a questioning look. She had just smiled and shaken her head, brows still furrowed in concentration. She had known there would be a sufficient block of time in which she could invent a rather sizeable excuse. And invented it she had.

She blew out a hard breath as well as she could, considering the whole injuries situation. "Yeah, if he's doing this badly I'll kill him."

"You do know something, don't you?" Zack confirmed in dry amusement.

"Please. I always know something," she teased him. "But yeah, I do. You know me too well."

"How, though?" Max spoke up. "You haven't seen each other in…" he trailed off. "Well, not since you were attacked, at least," was the conclusion he came to.

"And that, my friend, is where divine intervention comes in," Diana grinned, wagging a finger at the brunette.

"Aaaah," Shane uttered, understanding immediately.

"Gaia told me Dev's down in the slums, either Sector Five or Six but probably Five. I must have drawn the short straw 'cause he didn't get any assassins sent after him, just monsters. Of course," she snorted.

"Well, I for one remember how beat up he was after his first run-in with their little pets," Shane appealed to Max but got a blank stare in response. He rolled his eyes and went on, "It wasn't pretty. But I'd have though he'd learn after that."

"Me too, just there were a lot more of them this time. And he was basically attacked in public and in uniform, but from the sounds of it he didn't catch on too fast and was running around trying to protect the slum dwellers," Diana shrugged. It sounded normal, and highly plausible, after all. "We both have friends in Sector Five, if that's where he was. He probably had a major freakout."

Everyone nodded in comprehension. Devon would have done his best trying to protect the civilians, but once he realized that he was being targeted specifically, it would have been too late. Five was just nodding in appreciation for the story Diana had come up with, incidentally. He certainly wasn't going to give her away, though; not on his life.

"So I expect I'll need to cover for him for the next day or so. Again," Zack added in a mocking imitation of a huff.

"If you do so please." Diana batted her eyelashes at him overdramatically. "Again."

"How long _do_ you think we'll be here?" Five asked out of interest, trying to figure out the math in his head.

"Probably another thirty-six hours or so," Zack guessed, "based on how bad this is and how well I know Aerith. Or how well she knows us," he realized, chuckling.

"But then, when will we be moved to the tanks?" Five queried further, lines of confusion appearing on his forehead.

"The whats?" came Zack's instant, cutting-edge reply.

But Diana had immediately comprehended what her friend was talking about. Unfortunately. "Five, they…we don't use mako tanks here," she stated gently.

That only puzzled him further. "But then how do we heal?"

She shrugged her good shoulder. "There's mako in the IV drips. Mako tanks would heal overall injuries as extensive as these in a matter of a few hours," she clarified for the others' benefit before looking back to Five, "but those are only used in extreme emergencies—ones that almost never happen to SOLDIERs." She paused. "Research and Development invented them, and passed them on to...well, you know," she elaborated reluctantly.

"…Ah," he grasped, shutting down visibly. Then he suddenly brightened slightly. "Then does that mean we get to blow up all their tanks when we hunt them down?"

Diana chuckled quietly. "Yes, we can do all the blowing-up you like."

"I like this guy!" Max proclaimed.

"Well, on that potentially destructive note…" Shane glanced at the clock. "Let's go before we experience The Wrath."

"Er, yeah." Max shuddered slightly and chalked it up to hospital air conditioning. "Dunno when we'll see you guys, but you'd better get your asses healed and back to training damn soon!" he threatened in a well-intentioned kind of tone.

"But there's nothing wrong with my ass…!" Zack grumbled indignantly as the two made their way out the door. Diana stifled a laugh and the urge to agree vehemently.

* * *

**Thursday, 29 August, 1609 hours**

"Movement…ugh…why? Why does movement suck so much?" Diana complained, really just for the sake of complaining, as she tried to test out her less severely injured body parts. Zack was at least allowed to try walking now, and she didn't see why she shouldn't be permitted to as well. "How's the knee?" she asked of him.

"All right. The fractures didn't penetrate any farther than the surface of the kneecap, apparently. It was just an impact shock…thing. But I have to admit, I'd forgotten how much getting shot sucks," he grimaced.

"Agreed," Diana sighed, rolling her neck experimentally. The vertebrae had just been bruised, thank Gaia. Her fingers were back in commission, and so was her foot; the only thing that she really didn't appreciate at the moment was that she'd been stabbed, slashed, and shot in the same area of her back. She was making some very interesting contortions to try to twist around and see it, but her shoulder blade kept getting in the way.

"What about your ribs, are they all healed n—what are you doing," Zack deadpanned, catching sight of Diana as he turned to Five.

"Trying to see," she defended herself.

"You know it won't help if you accidentally dislocate something _else_," Five pointed out, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the sight of Diana trying to swat her own arm out of the way.

"Oh, hush, Finny," the brunette scoffed, sticking out her tongue juvenilely.

"Your giving me a new name does not give you the right to abuse it," he retorted haughtily. It was true, too; Diana hadn't misspoken. The three patients had collectively decided that if Five was now one of them, then he needed a proper name. After all, he was no longer a number—both literally and figuratively.

So they had rechristened him Finn. It was similar to his original appellation so things wouldn't get entirely too confusing, and besides, Finn had liked it the most amongst the nonstop stream of names and occasionally words beginning with the letter F that Zack had started spewing when asked.

Diana had also, in the process, knighted him using a wooden crutch whilst leaning precariously across the gap between their beds. No one was really quite sure why that had occurred, but they had all been loopy on medications earlier in the day, so it in all honesty didn't matter.

"If you're in here abusing each other, I think we have even bigger problems than we'd thought," interjected Cloud's soft voice as he entered the ward, holding the door for Tifa.

Instead, a girl sort of resembling her (but not really) burst through the open space. "Lemme in! I wanna meet our new friend!" Yuffie hollered, tearing across the room with the intent to pounce on Diana.

Luckily, she never got there, as Zack hastily stuck an arm in her way. "We're all injured, remember, Yuff?" he reminded her with impressive patience.

"Oh…oh, yeah," she recalled, backing away from the SOLDIER carefully. She then gasped as she indeed spied the stranger. "You're him!" she exclaimed.

The ninja thrust out a hand and rattled off, "Hey there, I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, Princess and White Rose of Wutai, heir to the throne, Her Most Royal Highness, yada yada, et cetera, but you don't have to worry about that 'cause I'm just a juvenile runaway with a proclivity for kleptomania when there's materia involved."

She grinned widely. Finn shook her hand uncertainly, trying to use the slow-down button when he played back her words in his head. It made sense, in the relative sense of the word, after a moment.

"Nice to meet you, Yuffie. I'm Finn," he smiled reservedly.

As the princess proceeded to exclaim over the newcomer's eyes, Cloud leveled a mocking accusatory glare at the semi-bedridden Diana. "Clearly she's been hanging around you far too much."

"What! Even I don't talk that fast!" she protested.

Cloud laughed and shook his head in amusement. "I was thinking more along the lines that she just called herself a juvenile runaway with a proclivity for kleptomania."

Diana chuckled nervously. "Er, where would you get that idea? Heh…ridiculous…"

"_Yuffie!_" came a sudden horrified, censuring yelp from a few yards away.

"Wha-at? It's a clear defining characteristic!" came a protest from a certain ninja.

"You are _not_ permitted to refer to me as 'Boobs'!" Tifa ground out, halfway between a hiss and a grimace.

"But it's clear I'm talking to you, isn't it?" was Yuffie's attempt at a defense. "You sure seem to respond quicker to that than your actual name! And besides, how could that possibly refer to anybody else in this room?"

"Hey!" Diana interjected, making a face at Yuffie and then trying valiantly not to let her face color when Zack winked at her.

Poor Finn by this point looked highly uncomfortable, even more so than Cloud, who was starting to shift back and forth on his feet apprehensively.

"Well - if you call me that then - then I should be allowed to call you - call you…oh, I don't know!" Tifa spluttered, throwing her hands in the air before planting them firmly on her hips in a no-more-nonsense-out-of-you-missy sort of way.

"Jailbait?" was a still slightly disgruntled Diana's muttered suggestion.

There were about two and a half seconds of silence because everyone in the room had been able to clearly hear what she had said, and it just took that long for them all to dredge up possible circumstances of _that_ particular comment.

Everyone, that is, save one.

Finn almost chalked this new development up to utter nonsense, but instead cocked his head to the side warily and made the mistake of putting a question out there: "What is this…"jail bait" joke…that is so funny?"

Zack's grin was unadulteratedly evil as he swaggered over to Finn's side and leaned down to define this "joke" to his new friend's ears only. Said ears promptly turned an alarming shade of dark pink along with half of his face, which now wore a frozen expression of a sort of scandalized horror.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at his best friend. "You actually enjoy ruining people's innocence, don't you?" he sighed.

The raven-haired man chortled. "Bet they didn't teach you _that_ where you came from!" He elbowed a still-scarred Finn hearteningly.

Diana, in the meantime, had adopted a mock pondering look and was tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm, but _whose_ jailbait; _that_, my friend, is the question! What do you think, Teef?"

"Oh, I believe I could make an educated guess," the other woman responded mischievously. They both opened their mouths to blurt out a name in unison but were drowned out by Yuffie's resulting resounding shriek.

"Oh, man." Zack pulled a face, wiggling a finger around in one ear. "That one was a doozy."

He yelped and nearly jumped a foot in the air not three seconds later, too. This caused Diana to go into a fit of cackles as she tried to edge out of her bed unnoticed by the security cameras that would surely bring Aerith running if she saw anything too strain-inducing going on. Diana brazenly ignored the fact that she was trying to sneak in view of a camera.

"Jeez! I'm having this thing incinerated, I swear—" Zack groused as he fished his PHS out of the pocket of his newly acquired spare uniform, which was laying folded on a chair. He had had Cloud fetch it for him from his room. "It's Fair," he greeted, turning away from the group to wander absently a couple yards away.

"It is _not_ fair; I sound nothing like Zack's ringtone!" Yuffie contradicted peevishly, having finally realized why her tall friend had panicked so much at the noise that was definitely not her.

As the rest of the room bantered companiably, Zack kept himself from sighing into the phone.

He knew this was coming, possibly quite soon. He'd been trying not to think about the possibility, but he had spent enough time as a First Class to know that it had to happen sooner rather than later.

It was not something he had been looking forward to.

In fact, he was pretty sure he'd been dreading it in the back of his mind for a while now. Now that it was upon him, however, he realized that his stalling and wheedling hadn't done any good.

…And he still didn't have a plan of action.

He practically groaned out loud as he was overcome with a strong desire to just flat out tell the Director to quit dragging it out and shut the hell up. So what if the guy wasn't half bad half of the time? It didn't mean he wasn't pissed off at this new development. Sure, even though he wanted to kill the President on a considerably regular basis (not like he'd ever tell anyone that) part of his attitude was frustration with himself; but he had known all along that it was inevitable. And there was no going back in time and preparing better for it now.

He replied only in curt affirmatives and negatives, hanging up eventually with a frosty "Understood."

"Do I have to tear out someone's spleen?" asked the only half-kidding owner of the voice that was suddenly right behind Zack, almost surprising him a little.

That in itself, he thought dryly, was a testament to how ticked off he'd gotten at the phone. No; the person on the other end, he corrected himself. Hey, his ability to channel his emotions toward the proper culprit was still a work in progress. What could he say?

"I bet you'd love to—" _especially once you find out what I was just told_, he added in silent apprehension, turning to lay a hand gently on Diana's cheek—"but unfortunately that wouldn't go over very well. My boss needs his spleen," he smiled wryly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"What does a spleen do?" Yuffie whispered to Tifa in the background, their brief spat forgotten. Tifa hushed her in favor of asking Zack bluntly what was going on.

"Is it a mission? That's what it sounded like," Diana continued her friend's sentiment with a frown, sensing that this was not the case despite what she had picked up from the phone conversation with her sensitive ears.

"A campaign, actually." Zack's mouth twisted unpleasantly. "I'm leading a battalion into Wutai come tomorrow morning."

**A/N: Aw, well, CRAP. (Teehee. Slight cliffhanger...no, that's not it... Dramatic end note.) I just keep on throwing these people into Gaia-awful situations, don't I? ! *cackles somewhat maniacally* I hope you guys liked it, it was longer than what I've been doing *cough* and I actually did some serious editing for the first time in too long :) And when I edit for real, I EDIT.  
Ahahahaaa! I have to say, if anyone mistook the "Boobs" line for something I came up with, then sorry, I took that straight from the game. I read somewhere that Yuffie starts addressing Tifa as that and I thought it was too hysterical to pass up working it in somehow xD Poor Teef. I share your pain, my friend. =_=' And I also threatened my best friend's boyfriend with spleen-ripping not too long ago! (I think he's terrified that I'll actually kill him if he messes up badly enough.) And I maintain my sentiment that while Yuffie can be juvenile and irritating, I still love her for the rest of her traits xD ANYHOW~ review, pleeeease! I'll see you again sooner! :)**


	56. Don't Panic Now

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: Well, I asked the Spaniards, and what do you know, they have to put disclaimers in stuff, too! Wait, what do you mean the whole _world's_ crazy about copyright infringement? ! I harrumph in your general direction.**

**A/N: Yes, the scrollbar you see is indeed pathetically long. This is, like...half an ordinary chapter for me. But there was no way to break up the...er...discussion that follows by the end *shifty eyes* I don't wanna spoil it! Oh, and speaking of discussions: SLIGHT WARNING this chapter for the content which is discussed by our favorite people. I mean, it is rated T, and if you've gotten this far it shouldn't be an issue but I'm just sayin' a vaguely racy topic comes into the dialogue. It was a plot point I just kinda came up with. If you want a motivation explanation, read the end A/N! :) Beyond that! I've also been working on learning how to draw in Photoshop so that's been sucking up my spare time. I've just gotta get through two weeks of hellImeanschool, then finals...just three weeks...I can do it. I should be starting to upload a couple more things to DA for those of you that know me on there! :D Oh, and my friend got me hooked on Bleach 0_O I would say help me, but I don't even wanna be saved xD Without further ado with the goal of making that dang scrollbar smaller: onward!**

**Chapter 56: Don't Panic Now**

"I'm leading a battalion into Wutai come tomorrow morning."

He went on into the silence that followed. "Damn it—and I knew it was coming, too." Exhaling hard through his nose, he continued to mentally kick himself and resist the urge to actually do it. "And of course—of course!—my luck had to be terrible. What timing," he scoffed. "Serves me right for not predicting this—hell, there isn't even a plan—this is worse than just procrastinating, what if I—what if I can't…"

Diana finally pressed a hand firmly over Zack's mouth to put a stop to his frustrated stammering. "Zack, what are you talking about?" she demanded bluntly.

He just shook his head, uncharacteristically shutting down. "Nothing. I'll figure it out. I just should have been more prepared for this, that's all." He turned away, crossed the room stiffly, and sat back down in his bed, sinking back into the pillows.

"Yeah," Diana muttered under her breath, staring after him and plopping down unfeelingly on her own bed. "Well, you'd better be prepared for interrogation later, Loveless-style."

Cloud heard her and sighed deeply, not only for his best friend's new predicament, but for the veritable cross-examination that he would surely have to undergo later. He really didn't want to be around for that.

"Start praying, Diana," Zack remarked blandly a taciturn moment later.

That alone was enough to freak her out. Zack hardly ever addressed her by her full name: only in intense situations, or when he was worried. Likewise, if Diana called Zack by his full name, he was usually in very big trouble.

"Why's that?" she replied tautly, her spine rigid. The only reason she was acting so uptight was because Zack was shutting the whole room off from his emotions. He wasn't even giving Diana or Cloud the telltale Look that would say "we'll need to talk about this later, away from prying ears."

"Because—" the raven-haired man raised his eyebrows slightly (the most definitive of his movements so far) as his PHS bleeped briefly— "the Director just sent me a list of the SOLDIERs under my command. You'd better hope your brother isn't on this list."

At that, Diana visibly drew back, leaning away from Zack despite the fact that she was sitting on the far side of her cot, two beds over. Her eyes flashed dark gray with something disturbingly like mistrust, and she looked away from him primly and crossed her arms.

"Yes," she intoned frigidly. "That would be rather inopportune."

The four people uninvolved (not to mention feeling increasingly awkward) swore the temperature dropped several degrees.

"Cloud, you're coming," Zack uttered sharply, out of nowhere, as he scrolled through the list on his PHS screen. Cloud gave a slight start and seemed like he really didn't know what to say. He muttered something about going somewhere, and somehow no one expected him to be back for a little while. "Devon too. _Great_," Zack drawled, but his characteristic goofy sarcasm was suddenly a lot darker. And with that, he punched the button on the arm of the hospital bed that would summon Aerith.

No sooner had the door opened than Zack began speaking at double-time - something about how he had to be allowed to leave to access things in his office. (Everyone all but forgot he had one at all, of course, just because it was such an odd notion.) A few minutes later Aerith had given in with an alarming lack of resistance, and just as she finished recording his vitals Zack was out the door, followed only by the medic's half-finished words cautioning him to be careful.

The Cetra turned to the room at large in utter bewilderment, mainly glancing back and forth between Diana and Cloud.

"Don't ask me; clearly he's not seeing fit to talk to anyone right now," Diana informed her in clipped tones, her arms still folded tightly with her glaring gaze fixed unseeingly at a far corner of the room.

Aerith considered for a moment, then sighed. "I suppose you'll be wanting clearance to leave too, then, hm?"

But Diana surprised her. "No," she answered right away. "I'll give him a little bit of time to calm down. And I'd rather cool off anyway. Besides, some PT wouldn't exactly be terrible in the meantime."

"How are you so freaking CALM? !" Yuffie suddenly burst out. "Zack's acting like a frickin' zombie and you aren't gonna, I dunno, chase him down?"

Diana's eyes flicked to her friend only to look away again. "I said already, he'll need time. I'm speaking from experience here, you know."

No one argued further.

Minutes passed, in which Finn spoke some more with Yuffie while Diana did her stretches. It was quite entertaining, or it would have been had everyone not been worrying in one way or another.

And at some point, of course, the petite ninja had to turn her attention to her SOLDIER friend, who was sitting on her bed mutely, her lips pursed tersely as she tested the limits of her right shoulder's range of motion.

"Say, Diana, have you two slept together yet?"

Tifa choked slightly. Diana's eyebrows shot up and she jerked out of her haze with a violent wheezing noise.

"Eh, Yuffie...don't you think that was a bit...blunt?" Aerith put in weakly on the SOLDIER's behalf.

"Oh, gods, I think I just choked on my own saliva - " Diana muttered, pressing a hand to her chest.

"Well, look at it this way, it's better than all the weird euphemisms she's been using instead recently," Tifa consoled Aerith absently, blinking rapidly.

"Hey! It _deserves_ weird euphawhatems! It's freakin' gross!" the ninja exclaimed, shuddering. "And - and - just - ICK!"

This cheered Diana up a bit. She'd give her friend that: she sure knew how to liven up a room.

"Well clearly you've never done it," she chortled without really thinking. Then she realized what she'd just said. "I mean - er - I, ah, that's..." She made a couple lame attempts at reclearing her throat. For once, she was stumbling all over her words.

"_What_? That's WHAT? ! And you HAVE?" Yuffie was mostly kidding at first, then realized that instead of stuttering even more in denial (only characteristic of her friend in a situation as potentially compromising as this, mind you), Diana was turning a steadily deepening shade of pink.

Tifa was giving Di one of their silent communication Looks. The flush crept up to Diana's cheekbones in response.

"Er...heh, I guess I never told you this, then?" she asked Tifa a bit weakly.

"Nope, definitely not," she declared.

"Oh. Huh." Diana was genuinely surprised. She wasn't particularly proud of it, but still. "I s'pose it just never came up...weird... Really, are you totally sure?"

Tifa cocked an eyebrow at her friend. "You're seriously going to be rhetorical right now?"

Diana fidgeted again. "Er... no. Sorry." At that point she just shrugged mentally and went ahead and put it all out there. "Well, I went out with this guy a year or two ago - not the one that messed with me, don't worry—" she reassured Tifa— "really liked him, blah blah blah, thought I loved him—I didn't really, but whatever, it happens to the best of us—slept with him, didn't tell my parents for a few months, we broke up, I figured it was a mistake, freaked out and shut myself off from relationships for a while. I was kind of a dumb eighteen-year-old. But whatever. It's not a big deal now."

"Well, uh...wow..." Aerith made an awkward attempt to break the sudden ice of silence.

"Ya know, I've said this before, and I'll say it again more times than I think I'll be able to count, but again... HOW ARE YOU SO EFFIN' CALM?"

Diana snorted. "Oh, please, Yuff...you know freaking out isn't something I do. There's just no point." She shrugged at her friend's fantastic suffocating-fish impression. "If there's a reason to panic, then there's a reason to try to get out. And personally I think that's a much better idea."

Suddenly the silence of the pauses was a lot thicker, and they all got the feeling that the conversation wasn't about relationships anymore.

"But what if..." Aerith began suddenly, seemingly without conscious thought, then recovered, swallowed, and went on firmly but with a slight tremble to her words. "What if... you know you're going to die?" she whispered. "I mean...you're a soldier. You know you have to be prepared for that, and so you just... let it be? How can you not... not panic, just a little bit, just in your own head?"

Diana's reply was swift and to the point. "Because if I'm going to die, then I'll make sure it'll be for a damn good reason, I know that much. And _unless_ it's absolutely certain—and no, ninety-nine point nine percent is _not_ certain—there's no chance in hell I'm gonna sit there wasting time panicking. I want to live. I'm not going to miss an escape while I'm standing there quaking in my boots," she scoffed. "That'd just be an insult."

Yuffie stared at her friend. For a moment it looked like she was just going to toss her head and let fly with a childish remark, but suddenly she blew out a breath in disbelief and shook her head.

"You amaze me sometimes, my friend," she sighed, somehow remembering to pat said friend's better shoulder. "You really do."

There was another one of those digesting pauses.

"Well," Finn cleared his throat loudly, "as much as I really could have gone the rest of my life without hearing most of that, I'm glad that-"

"Oh, GODS, Finn, I'm SORRY! Gods above and below, I'm sorry. Is it weird that I somehow totally forgot you were listening? Oh, jeez, what's wrong with me..." Diana shoved a hand through her hair agitatedly.

"Just ignore it; that's what I did, to be quite frank about it." He flapped a half-healed hand reassuringly. "Anyway, what I was going to say was that I'm glad you feel the way you do. About not quaking in your boots, I mean," he rushed on hastily, leaning forward, "not your...relation...ship...past...thingies...well, you know. You'd just better come home from this whole war campaign, is all I have to say."

"Yeah, if I ever have to see you in a body bag do you know how PISSED I'll be? !" Yuffie put in her two gil on the matter.

"Oh, I plan on coming home. And in one piece, too. There's too much I have to—well, too much on my bucket list still," Diana recovered. "And I mean, I'd rather not have the fact that I'm a girl be discovered via an autopsy," she chuckled dryly, only half joking.

"No, that would not be optimal," Tifa agreed with a snort. "Hey, question," she remarked suddenly.

"Go for it."

"Not to backtrack too much, but is that whole thing the reason you all but deal out death threats to any guy who looks at you the wrong way?" She shifted in her chair.

"Yeah, even before you and Porcupine were together," Yuffie agreed, wrinkling her nose. "I've got good money on who'll get you to snap first, not to mention what _part_ of 'im you sna-"

"Oh, gods, child!" Finn exclaimed in horror as Tifa slapped a hand over her eyes, opting not to ask just who the ninja was betting against.

"Oh, it used to be much worse," Diana said airily, somehow managing to block out the horror of that statement. "No, really!" she insisted at her friends' fresh looks of disbelief and slight alarm.

"Wow, so, uh, you mean you _did_ actually run out of places to hide the bodies?" Yuffie chuckled nervously.

"For the last time, that was a _joke_!" Diana smacked a hand over her face in exasperation. "But never mind that. Yes," she turned to her best friend, "that's why. I don't know why exactly, but I just got super-touchy. All of a sudden, things made me uncomfortable, and I don't think I've ever blushed so much in my life. I mean, I'm kinda over it now. But still."

"I see..." Aerith tapped her chin delicately. "It's not like you were embarrassed because you were inexperienced with...things... It was just that you suddenly thought that it was all a terrible mistake and you'd gone about everything the wrong way. An odd reaction, I suppose, but... Does that make any sense at all?" she asked of Diana.

"Um. Yeah, perfectly, Aerith. Wow. Exactly." Diana chuckled a couple times and shrugged. "There you have it, I guess." With her eyes fixed on a distant speck on the linoleum floor, she lapsed into a few seconds of reflection without meaning to.

She snorted suddenly with a smirk. "Well, and then _he_ went and came along." She just shook her head slowly again, not elaborating further on her statement.

Everyone else in the room could tell what, or rather, whom she was talking about.

"And! Speaking of!" Diana cleared her throat and kicked off the decidedly undesirable hospital sheets, standing steadily. Her headache was gone, and although she was still in a state of overall soreness due to the impossibly accelerated healing processes of her body, she felt more or less alright. Maybe even alright enough to hypothetically go track down her AWOL boyfriend and try and beat some sense into him to get him to talk, then mysteriously "disappear" for a few but currently indefinite number of days in order to keep up a masquerade as her dead twin brother and in doing so get sent off across the ocean to participate in a no doubt bloody, traumatizing, and overall unpleasant army campaign.

This was going to be awful.

Hypothetically, of course.

"I'm off to hunt down a moron and possibly throw him into a wall to get some kind of reaction out of him." She clapped her hands in mock excitement. "Oh, and Yuff, no bets on that. Please. You're still legally a minor so I'm fairly sure that's illegal. I'll see you guys later if he doesn't bite my head off."

She definitely heard a collective sigh as she closed the door to the ward.

She also definitely heard Finn ask, "I ask you all again: is this _normal_?"

"Nuh-uh, definitely not, thank the Goddess," Diana muttered as she resigned herself to navigating the halls of the endless company buildings.

It was strange; she was hardly ever called to the floor where the higher-ups' offices were. She distinctly remembered chasing Cloud out of Sephiroth's in a mild rage once while dressed as a SOLDIER, but at the time she hadn't even stopped to think where Zack's was. All the Firsts had official personal offices, of course, but she also knew that Zack hated being in his, just because he was so not cut out for desk work. To put it mildly, his undiagnosed restless leg syndrome (which was probably just years of action and reflexes talking) was the least of his worries in that scenario.

She could hear him muttering to himself and (it sounded like) flinging the occasional handful of papers around from all the way down the hall. Bracing herself, she marched right up to the door and knocked firmly.

"Go away. Sorry, but I don't wanna hear it," came the terse, sharp, and surely emotionally charged reply.

Diana sighed lightly, and moved as if to walk away. Then she froze and padded silently back over to the door, waiting for several moments to make sure Zack was no longer paying attention to anything out in the hallway. He was probably too distraught and distracted to notice much of anything anyway, which was why she went to work picking the lock as quietly as possible. She had it open in a matter of minutes and seconds.

Needless to say, Zack was pretty surprised when he heard the door shut and whipped around in the middle of his slightly manic pacing to see Diana standing not ten feet away from him with her arms folded and a cross expression on her face.

**A/N: Oh boy...yeah, this is gonna be pretty darn dramatic, even for me. So first off, to explain that little backstory about Di, I did it for two reasons. One, we're always learning new things about her. Even me. *coughpartialimprovcough* And two, I am rather tired of those stories that romanticize everything by saying that the She has never had any kind of relationship experience and then He comes along and She likes Him and He likes Her and oh look at that, they're off to get married with no basis of comparison. That is basically my one issue with Disney movies, as well xP No, but seriously. I mean, nobody's perfect, certainly not her, and everyone has adolescent issues/young adult insecurities/etc. There's no such thing as normal. So that's that explained :) I shall get on writing more (assuming school doesn't actually suceed in killing me first) ASAP and MY goodness the next chapter simply MUST be longer! *gasps aghast* Later, my lovelies! Hoping you enjoyed it despite the utter shortness. :)**


	57. Hurricanes

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: After searching far and wide for the duration of the summer...oh wait, but I was on a hiatus - CUT!**

**A/N: Wow, is it awesome to be back to this. The summer hiatus was unavoidable, sorry, guys... Working to the legal limit plus seeing summer-only long distance friends took up my time like crazy! But I've now started my senior year of high school (as a point of interest) and I'm setting the goal for myself now that Diana's story will reach its conclusion by the time I graduate. I started this story the spring of my freshman year. So much has happened since then. I've grown, I've learned, I've dealt with more than my share of problems; but you know what, I'm still here!**

**Music note: where it starts with Friday, 30 August: Hurricane by 30 Seconds to Mars**

**This one is for my best friend. Even though we were forced apart, I still call her that. Even though I screwed up royally and hurt her without even realizing it, and even though she may never read this since we've taken different courses in our everyday pasttimes and the nostalgia has just been too much to handle for her to hear me talk about these stories anymore, she's the strongest person I know. She's been through much more than I have and I've never looked up to anyone so much, regardless of our differences. She makes me a better person and I hope I do the same for her. We've been through too much together, shared too much, laughed and cried too much for me to let go, so I just want her to know that I want to be there for her for every remaining second of our lives, even if we end up a thousand miles apart at this time next year. I love her like more than the sister I never had, like the emotional twin she's been to me for years, like someone you can tell anything to, like a best friend should love her best friend. I just want the chance to make it up to her and maybe start again. Because what we are, what we have together - that's what it's all about, what's worth fighting for.**

**Chapter 57: Hurricanes**

She could hear him muttering to himself and (it sounded like) flinging the occasional handful of papers around from all the way down the hall. Bracing herself, she marched right up to the door and knocked firmly.

"Go away. Sorry, but I don't wanna hear it," came the terse, sharp, and surely emotionally charged reply.

Diana sighed lightly, and moved as if to walk away. Then she froze and padded silently back over to the door, waiting for several moments to make sure Zack was no longer paying attention to anything out in the hallway. He was probably too distraught and distracted to notice much of anything anyway, which was why she went to work picking the lock as quietly as possible. She had it open in a matter of minutes and seconds.

Needless to say, Zack was pretty surprised when he heard the door shut and whipped around in the middle of his slightly manic pacing to see Diana standing not ten feet away from him with her arms folded and a cross expression on her face.

"Jeez, don't sneak up on me like that," he recovered. "Someone could've seen you and gotten you arrested or something."

Well, at least his brain was still functioning enough to be able to conclude what she must have done to get in.

"Not likely," Diana dismissed. "Have you seriously been doing this the entire time?" she inquired skeptically.

"Doing what? I'm just throwing this—some stuff together," he replied defensively. Everything about Zack, down to his sentence structure, was off; it didn't even sound like the way he usually spoke.

Diana's left eyebrow arched. "Yeah, throwing sounds about right. I could hear you muttering to yourself all the way down the hall."

"I was not 'muttering to myself'," he swiftly contradicted her again peevishly.

"Yes, you were! I could _hear_ you-!" She broke off and uncrossed her arms. Maybe just giving him a taste of his own icy medicine wasn't the best idea here, she hypothesized with a sudden thought. She moved toward him slowly. "Something's wrong here, Zack—"

"Nothing's wrong!" he jumped into her brief silence. "I'm just a little nervous! This was kind of short notice, you know, there's a lot to get done," he invented. The latter half was true, but the matter had hardly been shoved on him on short notice. He was just scrambling to make ends meet.

"Zack, you're not okay. You're not acting normally—well, not normally, I wouldn't expect you to right now; but you're still being just plain _weird_!" she stressed. "Listen to yourself, you can't even speak right. Just tell me why you're so messed up—"

"Sorry, but there's nothing to tell," he cut in testily. "I have stuff to do, so if you could not harass me it'd be great." And with that he pivoted away, his shoulders turned inward defensively, and he moved to walk away from her.

_All right, that's it._

So Diana reached around him, quick as a viper, and grabbed onto his collar. She spun him around to face her and yanked him down the several inches to her level.

"Zachary Fair, you listen to me right NOW!" she fairly bellowed into his face. She knew she'd only be getting a couple fractions of a second of breathing time right here, so she went on: "You are acting like you're goddamn sleepwalking, you are _not_ okay so for the gods' sake would you just _speak_ to me—?!"

Later she would regard it as somewhat off, but in the moment it didn't strike her as odd that when she paused slightly he went ahead and yelled right back: "What, 'speak to you' like you'd _understand_ this? You won't get it!"

Diana released her grip suddenly and took a swift step back. "So that's what this is about? I won't get it? 'No one else will get it,' 'no one understands'? Zack, at the very least everyone in that room was your friend; I'd hope that that would've counted for _some_thing."

"Oh, sure it does—that's not enough!" he snapped. "None of you are in my position, and to be honest I think it's pretty unlikely you ever will be and hope to the gods you won't. Trust me, you wouldn't get it. This is pretty damn straight up _bad_, even for me."

All at once it hit Diana what he really meant by all this. Zack thought he heard her say something that sounded like "Oh, no," under her breath as he twisted his body to the side, away from these compromising words.

"Zack, I've…killed people, too, you know. Not as many as you, but I don't know the exact number either. Isn't that enough to be ashamed of, even if we're not the same?" Diana suddenly spotted a flash of light on the floor and bent to pick up a stray paperclip. Walking over to the desk and replacing it in one of too many jars, she next retrieved a handful of wayward papers strewn across the floor and set to work reorganizing them by page number. She always thought clearest while she was cleaning or organizing, or something else relatively mindless yet therapeutic.

"I know there's pressure on you. I know there are things you don't believe in that you have to do anyway—oh, I know you and Angeal would launch your own personal full-scale rebellion if you could; I do listen to these things, you know—and I don't know what it's like to be in such an intense situation.

"But my other half's going to be crossing that ocean along with you—" figuratively, not even a lie. She should start going for a record, or something— "so don't you think I want to make this even just a little bit easier for you? Just 'cause we don't understand everything doesn't mean you have to shut us off from knowing _any_thing." Page twenty-seven was missing and she located it near Zack's right boot. Snagging it off the floor, she put it in its place and snatched a paperclip back out of its jar to attach the papers.

"So come on." She tossed the packet onto his desk chair and it landed with a heavy _flap_. His left ear twitched slightly at the unexpected sound. "Talk to me."

"Di?" His first words came out strangled-sounding. His face was turned from her, but for some reason his feet were still anchored facing the door where she had first entered. "I—I'm so sorr—"

"Nuh-uh, not now," Diana hushed him, at his side instantly. "Just tell me about it. Something…anything, actually."

Without warning Zack fairly flung himself into her arms, very nearly bowling her over in the process, but fortunately her reflexes compensated for the surprise. As it was, Diana gently lowered them both to the carpeted floor. It was another moment before Zack could speak again.

"Di, I-I'm terrified."

He took another moment, but after that first declaration the words began to spill off his tongue all at once. "I'm in charge now. It's _me_. And I'm _it_, I'm all there is so what if all there is isn't enough? I have men to take care of. Mouths to feed. Decisions to make. Strategies to form that concur with bloodbath policies that aren't my own and the necessity to make them work anyway with as little loss on our side because otherwise," he made a noise somewhere in between a snort and a bitter laugh, "otherwise, we are _all_ dead, and not even by the enemy's hands at that point because it'll be _my_ fault for not following orders! I'll have emotions to control as I'm quite possibly forced to send _my_ soldiers into suicide missions because you know, all this is is a test, a massive test to make sure I can be a good boy and follow the rules! Rules I don't even believe in but I'm forced to follow because what the hell else are we all supposed to do, and when we come home—when what's left of us come back—we'll all be slapped on the back and commended for our progress, and especially me because I'm the one in charge, I'm the one leading the maneuvers and calling the shots that I have to base on someone else's bloodthirsty opinions. And you know what, you know—we won't be a single step closer to ending this damn war, all it is…is a power play by now, we could have pulled back years ago and just left the rest of the world the hell alone, but no, no…no…" Zack drew a huge, shuddering breath and Diana realized with a shock that something small and warm and wet had just dropped onto her shoulder.

"Zack, I…there's something I don't understand," she remarked gently, stroking his hair and not wanting to aggravate him further but needing to know all the same. "What do you mean we wouldn't be dead by the enemy's hands if you didn't follow orders? You aren't suggesting, I mean, they wouldn't…would they?" She knew he understood what she meant.

He breathed heavily again, though this was not as heart-deep as the previous one. "I mean that we can all put a toe out of line once in a while, obviously; I mean…heh…" A watery chuckle came out.

"You mean you're a perfect example, is that it?" Diana chortled dryly.

"Hah, yeah, you got me. And I mean," he pulled himself up and Diana unwound her arms from around him as he sat facing her, still practically in her lap, "that's to be expected. It's just that if anyone gets a little too out there, a little too…free-minded, if you will—" here he grimaced— "then the Director gets suspicious. He gets suspicious enough and suddenly you're seeing a lot more of the Turks skulking about when you're around." Raising his eyebrows significantly, he answered Diana's unspoken question that was about to fall off her lips. "Suspicious about your level of dedication and true loyalty to the Company," he confirmed.

"Ah," Diana realized quietly.

"Yeah. And after that, well, if you don't get the hint, then the President gets notified and suddenly you have a convenient mishap."

"A _what_?" blurted Diana.

"You know. An 'unfortunate' turn of events. You've heard the euphemism before—"

"No no, I know that, but how could something like that take out a SOLDIER with enough talent to be powerful enough for Shinra to worry about?"

Zack shook his head and sighed through his nose. "You're not thinking big enough, sweetheart. I'm not talking about car crashes or spiked drinks. I mean that Shinra can get two-thirds of the infantry and half a dozen squads of Seconds on your ass with permission to shoot to kill like _that_—" a snap of his long fingers— "all for the sake of hunting down 'the great SOLDIER who went rogue' to prevent disaster."

Diana felt terribly naïve. She hadn't even thought of that. It wasn't even a thinkable course of action, in her mind, but she had realized in the past few months that there were really no depths that Shinra would not sink to in order to preserve the power of the Company.

Quite frankly, it was terrifying. The stuff of dystopian sci-fi novels. _The Company Is Watching You_. Blockbuster movie taglines. The muse of postapocalyptic-style artists.

And it made her wonder how close Zack—or his mentor—might have danced to that line between grudging tolerance and grim surveillance.

**1840 hours**

"Is this the last one?" Diana directed toward Zack around the stack of file folders in her arms.

"Yeah, that's it. Gods, I don't believe how much of this crap piles up when all I need is about five words from each file for reference—whatever," Zack sighed disgruntledly, making another notation and erasing and redrawing a line on a chart.

"What is that?" Diana asked him after making sure the newest addition to the mountain of paper wouldn't be prone to cause an avalanche.

"Squad organization. Each one has about twelve to fifteen men—" he didn't notice when Diana almost snorted and covered it up by nodding enthusiastically— "and is supposed to be led by a lieutenant. Obviously that's not how it works anymore, but I'm sure I can get around that by not using proper titles."

Diana wrinkled her nose. "I feel like I remember that from high school history classes. Didn't they try a military hierarchy like that once?"

"Yeah, and it failed epically," Zack stated frankly. "That was before old man Shinra took over. Kind of made his bid for power partially on the grounds of equality and all that crap that we know isn't true. Of course his endless funding and all the mako research and technology that came of it didn't exactly hurt, but you know. Now all SOLDIERs are created equal."

"Literally," Diana snorted irreverently.

"Yeeeeeaah," Zack drawled just as disdainfully. "Unless, of course, you're you and you've got the mako content of a SOLDIER anyway despite the whole civilian thing." He grinned up at her from his desk chair.

Suddenly she exhaled violently and, with zero thought process involved, blurted, "Damn it, I should be going with you."

Just as vehemently, Zack jumped out of the chair and grabbed her by the shoulders, though his hands were gentle. "If you stow away on one of the boats, I swear to all the gods above and below I'll give up this whole mess and deliver you straight to your brother who will flip a royal shit and will probably leave you in the basement of his dorm complex restrained in several straitjackets and guarded by heavy artillery. Do you understand that?"

Diana sighed through her nose and took hold of his wrists, crossing her arms so that she was grasping his arms with the corresponding hand. Zack didn't have much time to process this unusual posture when Diana suddenly pushed off his knee (which he braced without thinking about it, since it was her) to jump up and twist so that she could fit her left arm over his head to yank that arm behind him. At the same time she pulled his right arm around in the same way, successfully holding him in a full nelson.

"Unless I get you in a straitjacket first," she quipped. Then she laughed and released him, and he turned back around with only a mildly concerned look still on his face. "Zack. I would if I could, but it'd be a horrible idea. Come on. You don't have to worry."

She hated how his facial muscles relaxed as he swallowed the lie.

**Barracks, Room 192, 2135 hours**

"Oh, that's nice. Real motivating," Shane muttered to no one in particular.

"No, this is _sick_. 'Don't work out,' they say? It's like we're taking a slow day before a competition or something," 'Devon' fumed. "Not like that's the one and only single thing to do when you're feeling, I dunno, _pressure_ or something, nope…"

"And I HATE boats!" Max burst out, throwing in his two gil on the growing list of tension-inducing complaints.

"Well unless you have a better alternative—"

"Long distance swimming, perhaps," Diana remarked sarcastically over Shane.

"—Then I suggest you get used to the idea," her friend went on without missing a beat.

"But why can't we fly there or something?" Max whined. "It's so unfair, all these stupid orders besides stupid methods of transportation…"

"Watch it, I'll tell on you," Cloud mimicked him from the now open doorway in his Zack Voice (which, incidentally, was becoming quite a handy imitation in a pinch.)

Max whirled, expecting a Commander with nerves stretched hair-thin, but instead got a blonde Third with his tongue stuck out. Make that a conspicuously disheveled blonde Third.

"I see you've said your goodbyes for the next couple of days," Diana observed dryly, knowing her friend was powerless to retaliate in this context.

He settled for glaring at her in a mock sizzle for a few seconds, then ground out, "…Indeed."

"Well!" Max proclaimed after a few seconds. "On an entirely unrelated note, how's Zack?" He blinked expectantly at Cloud.

"How should I know?" the blonde snorted. "Di went after him eventually, didn't she?" Now he turned his baby blues on Diana with an identical look.

_Nice_. "Yeah, my sister took care of him. He's fine—well, as fine as he could be," she allotted. For all her lack of wordiness, a little bit of tension dissolved out of the shoulders of her three companions.

"Took care of him, eh?" Max grinned slyly in her direction.

"Holy Ifrit, man, let's not go there!" She hurled a pillow at his face and he caught it easily, snickering.

"Anyway," Shane intervened tactfully, "since we can't train we might as well try to sleep, right? Tomorrow will be even less fun if we're overtired and running on raw adrenaline," he pointed out.

"Yeah. Let's pack our bags tonight. Besides, I don't know about you guys, but I've still got weapons and equipment to clean and do last-minute maintenance on. We assemble at dawn to start the march to the sea, right?" Cloud confirmed. 'Dawn' in this case meant a designated 0530 hours. "Well, for Gaia's sake let's not show up late."

**Friday, 30 August, 0316 hours**

The pounding on the door came just after the quarter-hour, in the dead of night. Poison rain was hammering the roof as Diana thrashed violently in her sleep, seeing green everywhere her REM sleep eyes looked. All was not right with the very wrong world. Even those deep in the throes of dreams could tell.

Her eyes flew open and labored to focus on the dark contours of the room only second before the frantic knocking began.

And somehow she knew that something had just crashed, and was about to burn.

And that it had nothing and everything to do with the war she'd be taking part in waging come morning.

**0318 hours**

Stumbling steps, ten of them, ruptured the heavy nighttime silence of Shinra Electric Company's many buildings. Four men and one woman were the owners of these steps, navigating the halls and campus at dangerous speeds as though hell itself were on their heels.

Yet their eyes did not convey fear for what lay behind. For they all strained forward, as dogs at their leashes, confined only by the limitations of their own strained and still sleep-drenched bodies. No. They dreaded what lay ahead.

**0322 hours**

It was as though an illustration from an ancient legend had grown to the size of life and been forced into the figures and times of the present. A legend—and not a fairy tale—because one would have to be senseless to miss the obvious clues that this would not conclude with a happy ending to be retold forever after. And even a blind man would be able to taste the anguish in the air, and a deaf man could read the desolate expressions on the faces of the illustration's subjects.

A young man with rumpled but brilliant blond hair stood to stage left in the stark white room, a short woman with foreign, beautiful features clinging to him as he did to her. The onlooking lovers.

Two men, one tall and sun-darkened and one whose sharp features were disconcertingly bereft of mischief, lurked in the background, looking almost out of place but for their expressions that matched the stricken countenances around them. The suffering best friends.

A young woman with green eyes and a long brown plait in her hair hovered by the head of a metal-framed bed, her normally soft jaw tight as she struggled to free herself of a long white coat. The grieving maiden.

A tall, muscular man with hair like ink and eyes like sapphires was caught in place between the maiden and the middle of the room, helpless but desiring to comfort those closest to him. The torn commander.

But most tragic of all, the pair that really made the piece, consisted in part of the man in the bed taking right center stage. He was pale and his face was drawn, his cheekbones sticking out sharply with sweat dripping over them. One could almost hear the labored breaths that racked his lungs and the desperate beats arising from his chest that matched the irregular blips emanating from a machine next to the bed.

The second half to the pair was a slight youth—who initially appeared to be male but, under further inspection, might be suspected to be female—leaning over the man, with one knee up on the bed. Her lips were parted as if she spoke softly, her brows furrowed as sweat that was more likely due to nerves than strain ran over them as his did, though her cheeks were as flushed with something between anxiety, disbelief, and anger as his were pale with the exhaustion of supporting what seemed to be his very life.

They might have been lovers but for the brotherly way they were regarding each other: the former with relief, solemnity, and something like gratitude; and the latter with frantic, almost maniacal agony.

"You knew, didn't you?" whispered the young woman.

The man on the bed eked out what would have been a smirk, but for the saddened yet somehow contented look in his eyes. "Kid, I always know. And yes, I know in terms of time it doesn't make sense. Yesterday—well, two days ago, I suppose—took a bit out of me."

She heaved in a sudden breath in realization and opened her mouth, but he stopped her. "Oh my," he gave a quiet half-chuckle. "Don't you go and think that was your fault. I'd've had plenty of excitement on my own, trust me."

Her chin trembled and her eyes shone an unusual shade of violet that would have downright alarmed most viewers of the scene. Leaning down, she combed a few strands of sweat-drenched hair off her friend's forehead. "I kn—no." She shook her head, her brown bedhead locks swaying slightly. "No, I understand. But it's still not fair!" she retorted, sounding for all the world like a child.

"Life isn't," he countered pragmatically, but kindly. "I—it—it's—" he tried three times to get the word out, but lost the battle with his vocal chords to a rattling cough. Flecks of blood landed on the woman's arm, but she didn't so much as flinch. He grabbed that arm, pulling her down so he could speak to her more clandestinely. Somehow, one got the impression that he knew something that most others in the room were not privy to.

"You know what you have to do," he whispered: something for her ears alone. "I believe in you. It—it's not much, but…" He paused and raised a hand, slowly, so slowly, with such strain behind the movement, toward the chain around his neck. Carefully, barely daring to move, he slipped it off over his head.

"Keep it for me?"

The woman closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly, the tiniest drop of moisture dripping from her left eye onto the bedsheets.

"Of course," she whispered back. Suddenly an unorthodox half-smile cracked her features. "I wish you could have met him. He…" she gave a watery snort. "You two would've loved each other." Her head snapped back up abruptly as she appeared to have a spontaneous thought.

"Look for him," she urged him. "When you get…there…ask her where he is. I'm sure you can find him—" she stopped to hiccup— "I hope you do, I mean…"

"Shh. I will," the man reassured her. He must have felt his heart skitter more than usual, for his brows drew together and he quickly became much more insistent in his words. "I'll try at the very least. You know how I try, after all. And please don't cry." He barely managed a smile, but it didn't seem to do much judging by the young woman's unchanging distressed countenance.

She must have known as well that he was fading. The woman with the long brown braid that had recently shed her medical coat could clearly feel it. In fact, she could see the mists of sea green beginning to gather in her mind, preparing to take the body and soul back to the Lifestream. But no one else knew that.

"Watch me? While you're…you know?" The woman leaning over him asked hopefully, almost desperately.

He shook his head and she wasn't sure why until he spoke. "More than that. I'll protect you. You'll see. It's a promise."

She stuck out her right hand with the pinky extended. "Pinky promise?"

"Yeah. Pinky promise." He copied the gesture, linking fingers with her for a moment. To her, it must have felt like touching a marble statue, while it felt to him like grabbing a hot iron. "How'd you know?"

"I always know," she whispered nostalgically, "kid."

"Of course." Leaning all the way back into the pillows again, he smiled yet again despite the circumstances. "Oh, man," he uttered all of a sudden. "Heh. I'm kinda seeing green. I guess that's it, then." He turned his neck slightly to see her better.

"Thank you," said a low voice from behind the woman. She almost jumped. The voice belonged to the tall man with the ebony hair.

"No no, thank you," contradicted the dying man chidingly, but warmly. "Both of you."

"Then the feeling's mutual," murmured the woman. Now she could see the green mist as well. Glancing at it, she seemed to focus for a moment, as though she saw something there that the others could not. "To both of you. Do pass it on." She gave in and sniffed slightly.

He knew exactly what she meant. All he could do was nod, though.

"I'll see ya, Finn."

The ghost of a smile worked its way onto his ashen face. That was all he needed. He decided to agree with the voice that was gently urging him onwards from behind the green mist: he was ready. And as he sighed again, slowly, so slowly, he exhaled the word:

"Home."

The tendrils of mist encircled him just as the breath left him, not intending to let him just lie there wasting away. They claimed him sooner than would be normal, and so as they took him, they sensed not only a reluctance to leave the world of the living, but an overwhelming desire to return to the Planet and the Lifestream.

And so passed Finn: the failed experiment who won by learning to live.

**A/N: Rest in peace my dear Finny 8'( I'm so sorry, I didn't wanna kill him off either, trust me... I know he was a favorite of a lot of people. But you can't fight something as scientifically solid as the deterioration all the clones go through, so it had to happen.**

**Wow, this was a loaded chapter. Zack and Di's first serious fight, what? o.0 But hey, while they both have tempers, neither of them are prone to holding grudges. (I mean, unless you count the whole Devon-revenge thing, but that's an extenuating circumstance.) That's why they work together so well :3 Plus that little throw-in dorm convo in the middle. I just couldn't make the jump from grim to worse without some kind of interlude 8/ And by the way, did the funky detached style starting the depressingness work? I had this sudden stroke of inspiration and just kind of ran with it. Oh, and one more thing - I'll say it again: pay attention to the dates! (:**

**So review please! It's good to be back :)**


	58. Let Them Suffer

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I wanted to say on my college apps that I had written an entirely original equivalent of multiple books...but...fanfiction technically isn't original...*sniff***

**A/N: IAPPLIEDTOCOLLEGEHOLYFISHSTI CKS. Hey, if you've been sticking around up 'til this point, I quite frankly don't care that this information enables the stalking of my age. Cans of whupass are non-perishable and are therefore practically immune to the effects of time, after all. XD That totally came out of nowhere. Speaking of sticking around, though, I really do hope I haven't lost any followers :/ It's not like I'm going to drop this or anything, and if there are ridiculous gaps they won't be more than a month or two...so don't sweat it :3 Having applied to school, my life is significantly less stress-filled. (For now. Hey, I'm enjoying it, so don't go and piss in my Cheerios.) As a result, I've been attacked my inspiration for a Disney fanfic x'D Have I mentioned lately how much I utterly love my life in general? So I have that running around in my head and my creative writing journal, an FMA pet project in the works/plot planning process, my next FFVII fic plot still going through blueprints and renovation, and I'm nearing the epic conclusion of this fic...*wails* I'll miss it. But I shall transfer my energy appropriately once it is in fact done, so no worries. My goodness. I am SORRY. Here. Have. Read. Read what I wrote when I was less loopy. Oh, and please for your own sakes try not to be too depressed by the previous chapter's character death ;^; It made me so effing sad, but, well, there was no way around it...and it's okay. He's at peace now. And besides...*dramatic pause* Here! Go for it! :P Enjoy.**

**Chapter 58: Let Them Suffer**

**(Still) Friday, 30 August, 0456 hours**

Diana woke with her face sticky from tears. Numbly she lifted herself out of bed and went to the bathroom, the first to awaken at a few minutes to five, and dressed in her bandages and uniform just like she would on any day. She started a pot of coffee and set out four mugs with the sugar for Max and the cream for Shane. She left two empty—she and Cloud both took it black.

As the coffee brewed, she quadruple-checked everything that would be going into her duffel bag. She had packed and re-packed the previous afternoon, but a war campaign (if a brief one) was not exactly the time to forget something vital. Satisfied, she settled for taking her sword out from under her bed, still wrapped up for safety's sake, and hugging it close to her as she sank down into the couch.

Seven minutes later, her blonde friend found her sitting like that. The sounds of stirring snoozers could be heard from the adjoining room just as the coffee maker beeped, and Cloud dutifully removed the pot and began distributing the caffeination in silence. He insisted on pressing a mug into Diana's hands before dropping onto the sofa beside her.

Barely noticing the gesture, the SOLDIER wrapped her hands distractedly around the hot mug on autopilot. She was thinking—and she thought some more.

She had wanted to introduce him to so many more things. She wanted to take him to a movie theater (a comedy, for the love of Gaia; not a horror film no matter how painfully cheesy) and show him popcorn and oversized, overpriced candy bars. She wanted to people-watch lazily with him, because she couldn't even imagine the questions he'd have about all these odd people and their odd customs. She wanted to share coffee with him in the morning—the good stuff, the brew they got from Tifa—and find out if he'd like it and what sacrilegious substances he'd put into it given the chance. Maybe she'd even enjoy observing as he went into a state of sudden caffeine overload and started wearing a circle into the carpet by tearing around the room.

She'd have wanted him to meet her brother, too, but that was already impossible. It was up to the gods on the "other side" now if they would allow the two of them to meet.

She prayed that they would. After all, you'd think that being close to one of Gaia's Chosen would count for something in the Lifestream.

Cloud looked at Diana carefully; sidelong, so maybe she wouldn't notice, though judging by her actions or lack thereof he doubted she was taking in much of anything at the moment. Her lowered eyes were a murky dark violet. Absently he wondered if this was what she had been like after her brother had been killed.

He really wished he could've met the guy.

**0528 hours**

The SOLDIERs assembled in the outermost courtyard of the Shinra compound in preparation to begin the bus ride to the sea. There, they would board ships disguised as trade cargo transporters, and proceed to the eastern coast of Wutai (hopefully) unapprehended. No rumors flew about concerning what kinds of new technology they might be employing on the ships to keep them undetected, mostly because it wasn't the SOLDIERs' concern. Even Max, the one with the obsession with all things mechanical, had kept quiet.

Maybe if they had all had more than eighteen hours to get used to the idea of being deployed immediately, then more speculation would have occurred.

This was where Zack would have to give his speech. The grandiose oration that would with any luck convince everyone who could cause him inconveniences that he was the golden boy they had tried so hard to shape him into. It was too bad that he had his own ideas. But they didn't have to know that.

The abruptly appointed Commander surveyed his friends—correction, his soldiers. He would have to make it up to them later for the sickening propaganda he was about to unleash upon their ears and eyes. What was that saying? _Hear no evil...see no evil...speak no evil... _Eyeing the security cameras that were no doubt allowing the President and his oh-so-beloved son to watch him from HQ even now, with wire taps for audio and all, he sucked in a breath and prepared himself to prepare his men. Yikes.

"SOLDIERS!" he barked. Feet shoulder width apart, hands linked behind the back. Shoulders back, chest up. Chin just a few degrees higher.

"Today, we move out. We set off across the sea for Wutai. We set off not just for victory…but for glory!" He paused dramatically, hating himself. "This accursed war should have ended years ago—" truth— "but the Company has plans, ideas that will lead us to victory in Wutai, and ultimately, in the world. This is the start of a better plan!"

This was the part where he could be completely honest with them. "You will be split into squads of a dozen to fifteen men. We will be employing tactics that Shinra does not usually favor. As a result, our maneuvers will be unexpected and unprecedented, which will leave the enemy confused. There is no training for this sort of thing—but you are Shinra's men. Men of this great Continent. You are stronger, faster, smarter, superior beings. You are capable of anything!" All right, screw the whole honesty thing.

"We are the beginning of the future of these great plans! Let us execute them—" fabulous dual meaning there— "with pride; with power; with force; with righteousness; and most importantly: for Shinra! For the Company!"

Right on cue—man, they sure were good at taking hints, regardless of bullshit whether they knew they were hearing it or not—the men raised up a single, unified shout of affirmation. "FOR THE COMPANY!"

"Onward! SOLDIERS, MOVE OUT!" Zack bellowed. He left the rest to the officer that was usually the drill sergeant. As for himself, he really wasn't much help with snapping orders, unless it was in the heat of battle and he was trying to relay (or belay, for that matter) a command or save someone.

Devon was looking at Zack like he was scrolling through the contents of his brain down to what he ate for breakfast last Saturday—and like he liked what he was seeing. Zack saw his friend's muddy violet eyes and knew what they meant, and he tried not to let his gaze falter.

He must have looked like he was waiting for something, some kind of signal or indication, because Devon's left eyebrow arched just the tiniest fraction at the edge. Then the smaller boy nodded, not quickly, not slowly, but like he had all the time in the world to do it and he'd chosen that particular moment for a very specific reason. Zack began to think that he knew what that reason was when he swore he spotted a flash of forest green in his friend's irises. That was all the confirmation he needed.

As the SOLDIERs automatically responded to the drill sergeant's commands, they began the march down through the belly of Midgar and to the outskirts of the city, where they would board the buses on the West Road. Kunsel was positioned near Zack and caught his eye. Zack could guess with decent accuracy that his long-time comrade had caught a glimpse of the exchange between him and Devon just now, and moved a bit closer with expectant ears.

"That kid," Kunsel murmured, keeping his voice at SOLDIER level, "I don't know what happened and I won't pry, but I've never seen someone look so beaten down in my entire life." He spoke with a kind of horrified wonder.

Zack exhaled shortly through his nose. "Is that what you saw?" The corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly into the ghost of a proud smile. "No. That kid's heart is stronger right now than it's ever been in his life."

The hour-long bus ride to the nearest coast was nothing, they all knew that, but the trip by boat was mental torture. The better part of the day spent by cruising along north of the Corel Area on the next continent over, into frigid waters before descending south to their goal of Wutai, was not exactly a prime stress reliever. Everyone on those ships knew what was coming, but each man had his own ideas and perceptions.

There were veteran Seconds who had been to Wutai before and knew of the monster-and disease-infested swamps and the dust devils of the contourless plains. They knew of sepsis, ordinarily the most common killer on the battlefield, but the condition was now rendered nonfatal to the SOLDIERs that contracted it. But that wasn't to say it wasn't painful. They also knew of the ferocity and relentlessness of the enemy, and the strict honor code of their army. More than one SOLDIER had found himself before an enemy who suddenly stabbed himself straight in the gut with his own sword, and not realized what had happened until later. Their tenacity was incredible, their fighting style and formations were different, and they were completely unafraid of death. Yes, each man had his memories of war, some altered by time and some blocked by fear or dread, and some preserved in horrific detail.

There were those who were rookies, just barely inducted as SOLDIERs and fresh out of their first mako treatments. The odds were good that they had never seen a violent death before. Other, more experienced men usually pitied them to some extent, although a few were contemptuous. Most understood the younger men's predicament and knew it hadn't exactly been their choice to be deployed immediately, and were willing to help with the adjustment phase. All the new ones had their illusions and trepidations alike about war, some significantly more filled with grandeur than others, and some more paralyzingly fear-filled.

There was also the infantry: men without mako treatments who helped with intimidation by numbers and operated like a traditional army. They carried guns and favored longer range weapons than the SOLDIERs tended to, and although they were unmodified humans that didn't make them inferior by comparison. There was for the most part good cooperation between the infantry unit and the SOLDIERs, even with the men who had not advanced in their SOLDIER training and had instead transferred to the infantry. Most of the members, however, had chosen to join the army and had not desired the SOLDIER component (or, more accurately, everything that came with it.) It was a harsh truth that an infantryman walking down the street in uniform was almost certain to receive more looks of gratitude and respect than a SOLDIER would.

There were in-betweens, too; there always are.

It wouldn't take much time to cross the ocean before the battalion of about 1500 men would land on the Wutaian shore, and Zack wasted no time in gathering the men on the impossibly wide uppermost deck of the immense ship. The thing was travelling at an incredible speed, and his voice had to battle for dominance over the wind. Gusts whipped about the young Commander, curling out and over the deck to spill over the edges of the floating fortress and dance down over the waves again.

"Like I said earlier, I've split you up into squads of twelve to fifteen. Everyone in your squad will be roughly at the same level—infantry together, Thirds together—you get it." Gods, he was so glad that he didn't have to lie through his teeth anymore. At least he'd be able to give his men some real advice now. Damn security cameras. "We'll split you between three decks of the ship in a few minutes so you can get into your groups with less of a mess. Just hear me out for a second, here. You are in these groups for a _reason_! Okay? I put freaking thought into this." The Commander paced back and forth, yelling and his voice threatening to crack. It was a good thing his men were willing to listen to him: they were all dead silent. "That being said, I assigned one of you from each group to be the squad leader. Believe it or not, I seriously thought about those choices too. If it is you!" he raised his voice even more. "I have chosen you for a _reason_. This is a responsibility. A minor form of authority. It will be _so_ much easier if I can pass along commands to one man for every twelve. I _trust_ you to carry them out. I trust you. And if it is _not_ you!" he hollered again. "Do not take this badly! It's all for a _reason_, trust me! And that's not a bad thing; for all you know, I just don't want to stress you out. Who knows? Oh, wait. _I_ do. Just please don't fight me—or each other—on this. Just trust me, guys. Please," Zack implored them.

"And, hey—new Thirds?" Zack grinned more characteristically in the direction of what he knew was a highly concentrated area of rookie SOLDIERs within the crowd. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna be asking you to lead the charges or anything. Though, come to think of it, we might be a little short on actual 'charges' this time around anyway—but more on that later! Your organizers will update you on the new tactics and then group you together." Half to himself, but half hoping that someone would hear him, he muttered, "One of the few pieces of information from back there that was _not_ bullshit."

That gem of a line was in fact heard, and did in fact spur a good amount of rumors along, some truer than others. But they were mostly either accurate, or very good educated guesses.

"All right, well, let's get on with this. Infantry: two levels down. Thirds: one level down. Seconds, stay here with me. Break!" he yelled.

The quartet from room 192 exchanged glances and headed for the nearest stairwell. These ships were huge, easily at least a quarter of a mile long, and with all the seemingly random half-levels and engine rooms, no one was quite sure how many levels high they were. This one was currently disguised as a merchant vessel that was still under the protection of an old principle called "free trade." It wasn't too common anymore—at least not in the open, since the war started—but the old, slightly unsettlingly creaky ship played the part just fine.

The Seconds were lectured in the new strategies by a drill sergeant (it was terrifying to think that he was actually lower in the chain of command than Zack). Shinra had finally caught onto the fact that most SOLDIERs in active combat were being killed by ambushes, and despite tightening camp security while in the field and the SOLDIERs being constantly on their toes, the death rate didn't drop. Then it was brought to the attention of the war council that the deaths could hardly be chalked up to ambushes, since an ambush implied a staged surprise attack. They weren't surprise attacks; they were completely and entirely random hit-and-run techniques, which made them extremely difficult to ward off and nigh impossible to predict. Never mind that the Wutaians were in fact on their home ground. The only reason the Shinra occupation had lasted this long was the Company's superior technology. (Scarlet, the Head of Weapons and Development, found this very satisfying.) And by this time, everyone knew it. So Shinra's war advisors had suggested that instead of being hell-bent on destroying every enemy in sight, perhaps it would be prudent to study and maybe even learn from the barbarians—give them a taste of their own medicine. Shinra had agreed that it was worth a try, so this round of SOLDIERs was the trial run. Just in case it was a total failure, the guinea pigs (along with their newly promoted guinea pig Commander) were only scheduled to remain in Wutai for a few short days. The results would be analyzed later, for better or for worse.

Diana's knees actually grew a bit weak with relief hearing these developments. Pretty much her biggest logistical trepidation going into this had been the potential for a nightmarish uniform line after uniform line attack formation. She felt trapped and unable to move stuck in battle formations, not to mention nervous that when she did react to the enemy she'd chop off some part of the poor sap standing next to her instead. But thank Gaia. This was going to be bad no matter what, but she felt so much better doing it her style.

The organization of the army, as a result, was split into much smaller units. As Zack had said, dozen-man squads would be led by a single SOLDIER. It was a bit different for the infantry, as they were more valuable in groups that were the equivalent of two to four squads combined to form platoons (there were about five hundred infantrymen all in all). The SOLDIER squads were comprised of men of the same rank and similar strengths; these skill sets were split into four disciplines with colors to correspond when they communicated in shorthand: green for swordplay and close combat, gold for materia, red for firearms (pretty much snipers), and blue for covert and hand-to-hand combat. Each discipline contained ten squads, and when multiplied by two to account for both the Second and Third Classes, it came out to almost a thousand SOLDIERs.

Not too complicated when you thought about it.

Next came The Reading of the Lists. Oh, dear gods. At least it was faster than having everyone gawk at the same piece of paper on the wall…Zack had definitely learned his lesson as a leader with that one. The drill sergeant rapped out names a mile a minute, and there was no room to lose focus. Once Diana's name was called, she followed the grid system that was slowly forming and moved to the area that should correspond to the blue group and squad number five. Everyone was organized fairly quickly—another result of Zack's planning—and the drill sergeant stalked between the clumps of SOLDIERs, bellowing that he would be handing out radios to the leader of each squad.

Technology distributed in the field was usually a pretty good deal. These compact little radios likely had small, discreet earpieces that practically locked into the ear yet still allowed for perfect external hearing. They were undoubtedly waterproof, and most likely picked up on a single station that was broadcasted for that purpose and that purpose only, never got static interference, and never skipped.

Modern marvels of science aside, Diana was pretty surprised when her right hand snagged one such radio out of midair, almost of its own volition.

"Look lively now, Loveless! Third Class Blue Squad Five!" barked the drill sergeant, and suddenly he was gone again.

Diana looked from the radio in her hand—a beauty of a handy little device, really—to the twelve faces turned towards hers. There were actually thirteen in her squad—wait…her squad. _Her_ squad!

Holy toast.

Everyone in her group shared several qualities, besides their obvious aptitudes for hand-to-hand combat and general stealth. The men were in general shorter and/or slighter than your typical bulky SOLDIER, which meant that Diana for once was actually among more of her peers in stature and didn't look like a total runt. For that matter, she hadn't even seen most of these guys before—a few in passing perhaps, and one or two from cadet training, but that was it. It went to show just how many SOLDIERs were on call at any given time, because she had definitely gotten to know or at least recognize a _lot_ of guys.

She blinked at the radio a couple times before doing the same at the group around her. They basically reacted the same way to her.

"Five, huh?" she murmured to herself. "…Interesting." Hoping fiercely that it was a sign, she said out loud: "Third Class Blue Squad Five." She surveyed her men's faces and tried to remember them. Going over names and whatnot would have to happen right off the bat, because she knew for a fact that she wasn't the only one totally lost in terms of identities. "Kind of a mouthful. Too many modifiers," it occurred to her, and she got a few unexpected chuckles.

"SQUAD LEADERS SOUND OFF!" came the interrupting bellow of the drill sergeant, his usual occupation coming through without a problem.

"Second Class Green Squad One!"

"Third Class Green Squad One!"

"Second Class Green Squad Two!"

Thus it went on: green to gold, gold to red, and red to blue. "Third Class Blue Squad Five!"

Diana hated yelling in her man voice. Sure, she was still loud; she just couldn't get the amplification that she could achieve when she didn't have to force her pitch down.

Now came the deceptively normal part. The leaders had to get to know their squad members: their strengths and weakness equally (this was no time to squabble over who was better), their fighting style, their levels of instruction and aptitude, their backgrounds; even and especially their personalities.

"Well, for Gaia's sake let's not stick around _here_." Diana gestured around the cavernous expanse of the largest open area of the ship, clunky and mechanical and overall dingy and uninspiring.

* * *

**Somewhere on the Midgar Continent, Time Unknown**

A man clad in white was pacing. He was deeply disturbed—at least, pretty close to as deeply as he could be. Then again, his emotional range was comparable to the average human's as the volume of a puddle could be measured against that of the ocean.

The glow of countless monitors around him illuminated the planes of his face in unnatural ways. The skin that seemed to cling desperately to the cheekbones was bleached of nearly all color from a lifetime of time spent indoors and in front of screens. Alone in the gaping space of the room, his shoes smacked rhythmically against the concrete and linoleum. There was no clock, save the digital displays in the corners of the computer monitors and machinery, and even the barely perceptible snick-snick of his watch's second hand faded into the background. The hums of electricity filled every room in the building twenty-four/seven; by now, the ever-present white noise wasn't even noticeable. Deep, far below the floor, a generator turned on according to schedule, and a momentary slight rumble could be felt through the soles of the man's shoes.

He had a potential problem. It could also be a potential partial solution, but partial wasn't good enough. There would be no benefit in it for him if the girl died in Wutai. It concerned him slightly that he wasn't sure exactly how much she knew, but the less, the better. In addition, she would be less likely to be on alert for the proper things if she was as distracted as she was sure to become by the death of her…_friend_.

Yes, that had been interesting indeed. That whole incident had opened the man's eyes to two vital concepts. For one thing, the girl had powerful friends, in terms of both the political and the physical. And, more importantly: her resilience was overwhelming and quite frankly superhuman, and that certainly wasn't the mako treatments talking. Well, that suited his purposes just fine; in fact, he couldn't ask for anything more. Maybe if she had less of a temper…but no, that was just the sort of thing that made this interesting.

Well. He would see what happened in a few days. His thin lips curved into what must have been some form of a smile as he tried his hand at divining the near future. It would be dark; oh yes, it would be black as the inside of a hole in space, dotted with blood-red splashes of gore and pain and murder.

Let her go to war on the Wutai Continent.

Let her run about with her bastard child of a friend, speaking of the hardships and pain of life as they floundered along in their silly little ordinary mako-enhanced existences.

Let her remember the words of Angeal Hewley, filled with promises and honor and the everlasting importance of holding on to both, and emptiness and unreliability when it came down to it.

Let her writhe inside as she watched her lover on the battlefield, powerless to express what she honestly wanted to for the sake of keeping her own delicious, loathsome secret.

Let her battle with the realization that she had no true quarrel with the Wutaian people, now that she knew (unfortunately, but perhaps not so) that it was not in fact enemy soldiers who murdered her brother.

Let her remember the pain; no, the searing agony from the loss of her other half, accentuated by the stench of blood and rotting flesh all around her as she committed murder herself time and time again, imbuing her sword with gore and screams as smog and poisoned gas rent the sky and it seemed as though hell itself were upon her and yet at the same time she was hell itself, rushing the faceless enemy with eyes that burned like roiling blood as they surely would.

Yes.

Let Diana Loveless suffer.

* * *

Somewhere close by but miles and miles away, another man's limp neck let his head loll to the side. His long hair fell over his face lazily, moving as though through water. It wasn't much, but it was more than he'd moved in years. Hours? Time was undefined here, but he sensed something. Something rising, ascending, escalating.

A fresh evil? No. Nor was it something akin to hope. It was…how to describe it. He hadn't had to or even tried to describe anything in eons. Seconds? It didn't matter.

It simply felt like…a change.

Yes.

A transformation.

A metamorphosis.

A revolution.

* * *

**A/N: Aah, so many mystery people! 0.Q (that's a monocle.) Heh. I do love me some cliffhanging mystery people x3 I came up with those last two little sections totally on the fly, and whaddaya know, it gave me an acceptable word count and acceptable dramatic moment with which to end a chapter! You know what they say about two birds! And so that was why I was able to update again. Did you guys like this whole part thing? I thought the creepiness was appropriate, since shit is actually about to get real. I have been warning you that it goes downhill and gets dark fast, after all... Oh, and I hope the middle explanation parts weren't boring :/ I tried to make it more interesting with lots of Zackly thoughts. Come to think of it, there's a lot of him going around in this chapter. (He says hello and that he wants more metaphorical screentime xD) Well, as I end my overtired rambling... Hope you all liked it! Review, please, my lovelies! :)**


	59. What Does War Begin With?

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: The thirteen dwarves from The Hobbit say I don't own anything. Also, Dwalin would still like to know where the meat is. He's getting rather desperate.**

**A/N: Oh my, I hope someone got that reference. Happy New Year, everybody! :D See, this update didn't take so long! :) I would've posted sooner, but I discovered that I had no wi-fi for all of vacation -.- Oh oh oh and did anyone else see The Hobbit? ! GAH! Great work of modern film, and that's coming from a huge LOTR nerd that's occasionally extremely canon-obsessed. Alrighty. I'm making these notes shorter now, since they're getting annoying. Fact. And I'm going to start replying to reviews through PM because I haven't been and I feel terrible in retrospect. So read, enjoy, and review please! (:**

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**Chapter 59: What Does War Begin With?**

**Saturday, 31 August, about 2000 hours**

Diana could barely hear her own breathing, much less that of her squad members. The trees around them were just as taciturn, their dark green needles giving the barest rustle now and then. Their presence should have been comforting to the Third Class Blue Squad Five leader, but they were different from the hemlocks and firs of home. They were darker, spinier, tougher. But they were still just as hospitable to climbers and those wishing to hide among the lower drooping branches.

Take, for instance, the four Blue squads spread over the several thousand square yards of thick foliage in the cradle of a valley. The only reasons Diana could pick out most of her men were a) her SOLDIER vision, b) the fact that she was looking for them, and c) she knew exactly what each man looked like. Even so, it took her a second to figure out just which body part was where when she detected the slightest brush of movement from a neighboring tree. That would be one benefit of being nearly silent, she thought. You could easily play dead.

As it was, they were only playing camouflage, but the principle was the same. They were even making the four Green squads below and a ways back a little nervous, as they couldn't see their backup. Technically the Greens were the Blues' backup, but the enemy wasn't supposed to catch on to that.

Zack's—or rather, Acting Commander Fair's—plan, in accordance with the War Council's latest revelations, was to basically set up a trap. (On the boat, Zack had joked wryly to Diana that the easiest way for him to get away with any complete and utter bull crap for the next week would be to end every sentence in his reports and in his verbal addresses with "in accordance with the War Council's new plans.") The Green squads were to appear as if they thought they were being terribly sneaky by making their way through a good-sized but not too deep valley, thinking that there was no way the Wutaians would expect them to take the low ground. Halfway along it, they would unexpectedly stop, as if waiting for a signal. Naturally, the Wutaians patrolling the valley and keeping guard from the hilltops would be onto them, and after a while of the Greens acting ignorant and increasingly befuddled, it would just be too much for the enemy to bear and they would attack. It would probably be in the night, just before dawn, and it would probably be silent: that was their modus operandi.

That was where the Blues came in. They were to be swift and silent and never let the Wutaians near the Greens. From there, speed was essential. The objective was to capture the Wutaian base that could be found by following the valley farther. Four gulches like this one convened, gradually sloping upwards to a hilltop that made for a wonderfully defensible position for a military base. Another one to the north had been taken by Shinra only a few weeks ago, so it was likely that the Wutaians would have their guard up even more than usual.

The role of the decoy then changed to a similar but larger force approaching from the valley coming roughly from the north (Diana's squad was south of the base). As soon as the Blues were successful, they were to radio the Greens that had been acting as bait to let them know that everything was going as planned. A Green leader would then alert a counterpart from the force to the north, and their diversion attack would begin. Their approach pretty much consisted of raising hell and charging head-on in orderly lines: a typical Shinra move, up until now. No one would notice the absence of the southwestern patrol while there was a Shinra SOLDIER and infantry charge from the north to reckon with.

Then there was this whole elaborate infiltration plan to go through with that had required some hardcore briefing and blueprints that were probably the result of some Turk hacking. Diana had a sneaking suspicion that there would be a Red squad or two covering them, but sometimes as a leader it was better to keep the details to a minimum. Just about everyone trusted Zack enough that when he sprang something like that on his men, they would roll with it and figure it would probably save their lives later, rather than getting all indignant about not being told the entire plan.

The Blue squads had started taking watches in turns at 1800 hours, three hours at a time until 0600 hours the next morning. Although they all expected to be woken around 0400 hours as the enemy got tired of sitting and waiting.

Diana knew she could be dozing—her squad had the second watch, from 2100 hours to midnight—but she told herself that she was just determined to force down the remains of her dinner. Each SOLDIER's supplies, besides the survival contents of the standard issue bedroll/backpacks strapped to their backs, contained a good quantity of a sort of granola bar on steroids. Research and Development had come up with them after realizing that while an infantryman would be fine, a SOLDIER couldn't survive on crappy camp food for any length of time and expect their body and metabolism to perform anywhere close to acceptably. The squares the size of sandwiches were packed with calories and saturated with protein, and were covered in biodegradable wrappers that would, well, degrade out in the wild and leave no trace of a human presence.

They were great little inventions, provided you had no taste buds. And SOLDIERs happened to have hypersensitive ones.

Two a day sustained a SOLDIER extremely well, and Diana was forcing down her second one at the moment. She sighed, tempted to just hold onto the last corner and chuck it at the first enemy she saw to see if it would do any damage. New torture methods: force-feeding, she thought morbidly, and glanced around the tree trunk at her back towards the camp to derail her train of thought.

The Greens hadn't lit a fire, keeping with the "we're being so freaking stealthy" façade, and she felt kind of bad for them. At least she would know when the enemy was coming. The Greens had to sit there and look helpless. Personally, it would kill her. She supposed Cloud was down there somewhere—he was the Squad Seven leader, as a matter of fact—but they couldn't try to communicate. It was too bad; she'd have liked someone to sit in the tree with, waiting to take on the enemy together. But their team, the Fearsome Foursome of room 192, had become the leaders of four different squads: Max to Red and Shane to Gold, of course, in addition to Diana to Blue and Cloud to Green. They had teams of their own to look after now.

Even during most of Friday, which had consisted of a hard march up the coast, she'd hardly seen any of them. Camping that night had been utter crap: it had started to rain as the sun had begun to set, and although the SOLDIERs' legs barely ached, the infantry was having a rough time of it. Diana guessed that they had covered at least fifty miles of goddess-awful terrain before stopping in an area slightly sheltered by the wind to light the fires and set up camp.

Carrying everything on their backs was easy for the SOLDIERs—they had little trouble carting a few tents along with them in addition to their supply packs and bedrolls. Actually trying to sleep once everything was set up was hell, though. Foreign insects were everywhere, and nothing short of a monstrous flyswatter would have deterred them. They just kept coming if you were more than fifteen feet from one of the fires, and while the bites would only itch for a few minutes before healing over on a SOLDIER's skin, the infantry got the short, non-modified end of the stick once again.

The next day had gone similarly, and after only a few miles, the battalion had crossed out of the coastal marshlands and into rolling hills and valleys, where they were currently staked out. Most of the company had circled around to the east to reach the northern ridges above the Wutaian base, but Diana had just been sitting here in a tree for far too many hours, in her opinion.

Admittedly, she was a lot less cranky about it now than she had been when Zack had summoned her and the other pertaining squad leaders to his tent to brief them on the attack plan. Out of the swamplands there was much less insect activity, not to mention the Gaia-forsaken humidity had gone down a bit. She had asked Zack, staying for a while in his tent after the others had gone, whether it was "always this goddamned hot and sticky" in Wutai. Her orneriness had appeared to amuse him slightly when he responded with an affirmative, which of course only made it worse. He'd calmed her down after a minute and they had talked quite pleasantly until he had told her to get some rest, and not to mention get out of his tent before someone thought he'd mistaken Devon for Devon's sister. She had frozen with both her feet barely out the door before whirling to bellow something about not looking fucking effeminate at him.

"Devon's" squad members who hadn't really known of him and his reputation before certainly did now. A few of them spent a few seconds twitching slightly before schooling their features into expressions more acceptable than ones of horror. It was like they'd suddenly stumbled upon the runt of a chocobo pack snarling and suddenly baring fangs as it prepared to charge.

So now Diana was waiting. Up a tree. Up a freaking tree.

Her pack was stashed several feet above her head, to be retrieved when their job had been done (there was no point in thinking about failure, anyhow), and she cursed the formalities of her uniform requirements while in the field and wished again that she had someone to share the waiting with.

Leaning back against the tree trunk, facing west where the sun had dipped out of view not long ago, she unsheathed her sword and held it in both hands, lowering it to rest along the branch she was straddling. She didn't like calling it her sword, but the more time she spent with it, the more it grew on her.

It was the standard-issue—like so many things on this campaign, and yet so few—SOLDIER sword: really freaking big and really freaking heavy, not to mention really freaking sharp. Intended for two-handed use, it stood as high as her chest, and she didn't really want to try to guess the weight. It would have felt like much less to her anyway. She had to wear the full-blown blue Third Class uniform, shoulder guards and all, and she was not happy about it. Despite the fact that she was quite frankly jacked, the guards only made her comparative lack of bicep mass more obvious. Not to mention it was a good thing her chest was bound, she reflected as she glared down at the damn fashion-challenged suspenders. She also preferred her own boots to the brown SOLDIER ones that zipped up the fronts, and the brown leather gloves came up higher than she was used to.

And don't get her started on the damn helmets. They might be effective, but she found the slightly limited peripheral vision infuriating, no matter how many cool gadgety assets the things came with.

She rested her metal-clad head back. At the very least, the helmets were moderately comfortable, and it didn't seem to be likely to get knocked off very easily.

Her heart rate increased slightly as the thought of someone shooting at her head crossed her mind, and she shook it off. This had to come eventually, she reminded herself, and she had to embrace the rules of warfare or be killed, simple as that.

She wasn't allowed to hold back here—actually, she couldn't afford to, because the men trying to kill her wouldn't be holding themselves in check either. But she had to keep reminding herself that this wasn't a training session.

When she delivered a kick to the knees, it had to be from the front, not the back. The idea was to break her target's legs by forcing their knees to bend backwards.

When she punched, she had to be collapsing internal organs; shoving splinters of bone up into the brain; rendering limbs useless for days.

When she swung her sword, it had to be to mortally wound, not to simply scratch or warn away.

When she stabbed, it had to be for a major artery or organ.

When she hit, it had to induce a grade three concussion and make the target lose consciousness instantly, not just make him dizzy. Maybe even put him into a coma.

When she ran, it had to be at full tilt: fast enough to rival most wild animals.

And when she lunged, she had to be going for the jugular.

Diana almost snorted, remembering what Zack had told her about SOLDIERs' healing rates.

"You know how when you get hurt just a little, like a papercut that it takes you a few seconds to notice, you can watch it heal and feel the sting just go away?"

She had nodded.

"Well, it's faster than that. Even if you get cut—not gouged, mind you, only shallower than hitting bone—you probably won't even feel it."

"That's called adrenaline," she had deadpanned.

"Well, that helps," he had conceded dismissively, "but mainly because it's what speeds up the healing process. Everything in your body responds to your adrenal glands overproducing: it goes faster." Di had concentrated extremely hard on not letting her face flush as her mind made an entirely unexpected swan dive for the gutter. "Even something big like that won't last long enough for you to really feel the pain, adrenaline rushes aside. It's the thing that terrifies the Wutaian army the most, next to our eyes," he went on, grimacing. "Once, when I was younger, a soldier sliced me right across the stomach. If it'd been deeper it would've been bad, especially on a regular human, but I jumped back a little. It was almost funny, 'cause he was totally expecting me to stagger or fall over. I think he was young, like me. He hadn't seen SOLDIERs and mako firsthand yet."

"It'd be a bit of a shock, no doubt about that," Diana had agreed, feeling a little floaty around the head as Zack told the story. She didn't hear things like this from him, or any SOLDIER, very often.

"Yeah, well, I looked down at the cut, and I knew it'd heal within a couple minutes, so I grabbed onto my sword and prepared to face him down… But he just stared at my stomach. I could tell, even though he was wearing a helmet, and I knew my skin was starting to knit together. It must've taken, oh, say, fifteen seconds, and it looked like nothing more than a papercut. After that, he took one look at my eyes and he took off like a shot." He had fixed her with a look. "Now, I don't know whether it's an advantage or it's horrible, but we terrify them just by being what we've been made into. Just…do me a favor, Dev. Don't forget that they're human, and don't forget that you are, too."

Diana shivered, even though there was no breeze in the balmy air.

Wait.

There was no breeze. So why were the boughs of a tree about thirty yards away quivering slightly, and faster than what a breath of wind would have caused?

She sprung into a crouch on her branch and sheathed her sword—it would do her no good up in the trees—narrowing her eyes as she focused in on the disturbance. When she caught a glimpse of a brown and blue uniform paired with two very faint glows of bluish-green in the twilight, she relaxed.

Bouncing slightly, she launched herself over to the next tree, landing lightly on a thick branch and resting a hand on the trunk for extra but unnecessary balance. The groves in this region were dense, and even a normal human probably would have been able to leap from one tree to another.

"Butler?" she inquired sternly as the other continued to approach. "What is it?" Her words barely qualified as noise, but her subordinate could hear her clearly.

The young man sighed as he half-saluted, which made Diana wrinkle her nose. "Nothing's wrong, sir, don't worry."

"One: you certainly don't look like nothing's wrong. And two: for Gaia's sake, just call me by my name." The corner of her mouth pulled up slightly, and the other realized that she wasn't being stern.

"…Oh. Oh, right. Sorry, Loveless." Kelsey Butler blew out an exaggerated breath again.

Next to Di herself, Kelsey was pretty much next in line for those who could pass as a female if they tried. His androgynous name was first on his list of grievances, but that aside, he was slight in stature and perhaps a bit shorter than Diana. He had soft features and big eyes the color of turquoise, which were evident even through the visor screen of his helmet. (Mako eyes tended to do that, and if one wasn't careful, they could be a dead giveaway in the dark.) But unlike Diana, who was in reality biologically different from him, he could build muscle faster, which was especially evident when he was in his uniform.

He was relatively quiet, but quirky, too, and had a tendency to say unexpected things. Diana was working on beating the saluting instinct out of him for the moment, as it freaked her out and probably wasn't entirely proper in the first place since they were of the same rank. Kelsey was perfectly happy to be a follower, whereas being shoved into a subordinate role with no warning, however unofficial, would have driven Di stir-crazy.

Then again, she wasn't quite sure how she felt about being a leader, either, she thought wryly as she waved a hand at Kelsey for him to join her in her tree. His face relaxed into relief and he landed as gracefully as she had, taking a seat so he could still keep watch in the right direction.

"Are you on watch right now?" Diana asked, lowering herself to take a seat on a branch next to his.

"Nah. You?"

"What do you think?" she asked rhetorically.

"Couldn't rest either, huh? I wonder if any of us could." He gave her a timid grimace.

"Not likely, since none of us have exactly been to war before. I mean, let's be honest."

"Yeah." He was quiet for a moment, and Diana just waited it out. "I'm on fourth watch."

Suddenly Diana understood. "Ahh. I see. So no pressure."

"Yeah." He hesitated. "I mean, they say the enemy tends to attack just before dawn, but it's possible they wouldn't, right?"

Diana shrugged. "I wouldn't bet on it." She wasn't going to lie to the guy. "You're worried you'll screw it up, right?"

He seemed taken aback by her honesty, even though he never seemed to have a problem with it himself. "Well, who wouldn't?"

Diana chuckled. "Touché. I mean…well, have you ever killed someone?"

Kelsey shrank down a bit and his shoulders curved inward, and he shook his head. "Just monsters. I assume you have?"

"Yeah. And I'm just gonna take a shot in the dark here, but I don't think it'll be what you're expecting."

"Is anything ever? Honestly." Kelsey smiled wryly, and Diana suddenly realized that he'd had no expectations at all. Leaving it open to interpretation, letting what would happen happen and taking it as it came.

"Of course not," she snorted, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Look, you have a little sister, right?" Kelsey abruptly changed topics—or so Diana thought.

"Twin," she responded automatically. "But yeah, I'm older. Why?"

"I've heard about the two of you, trust me." Kelsey might have giggled a little bit. "I know she can take care of herself. But you still wanna protect her, right?" He pulled his legs up and linked his hands around his knees.

"Is it that obvious?" Diana drawled, playing along. Good Goddess, she must have been playing her cards well.

"Eh, only a bit," Kelsey joked back. "But you let her do her own thing."

"Let her?" Diana repeated, an eyebrow raised.

"Maybe that was the wrong choice of words."

"Mm, just maybe. She's a bit too much of a…"

"Spitfire?" Kelsey suggested tentatively.

Diana narrowly avoided barking a very loud, obnoxious laugh. "Yes. Yes, that. I'm—I'm sure she'd be flattered," she snickered.

"Anyway, though." Kelsey offered a small grin before sobering. "Anyway, my point was basically this." He swiveled to fix Diana in place with a full-on stare. "Stop. Worrying. About. Us."

Diana blinked. "What?"

"I'm sorry, was that too much?" the young man asked, suddenly agitated. "I mean, you did say to call you by your name and everything, but if that was too direct—"

"Oh, for Gaia's sake, it's not that!" Diana blinked rapidly. "I mean, did you just tell me to chill the hell out?"

"Well, that is," he fumbled, "maybe not in quite those words, I mean really, it's just, erm… Pretty much, yeah," he decided.

"…Why?" she asked, knowing how dumb she sounded but feeling like it too.

"The others might not have noticed, but I did," Kelsey stated matter-of-factly, if hesitantly. "Look, I'm thinking you've been through more than you'd ever like to tell anybody. No—no, don't stop me now—" he held up a hand to deter her impending protest, though he wouldn't look straight at her— "I'm about ninety-eight percent sure that's true. And I don't envy you, I think. But we're all SOLDIERs. We're all people. You've gotta accept that we're all really quite capable of taking care of ourselves. I know you know!" He waved a hand at her, fending off another outburst. "But I also saw how you waited for everyone to go ahead of you, and I could tell you were just barely holding off on giving them a pep talk or something."

Okay, now that she would admit to. She muttered something even further under her breath than the volume they were already barely whispering at.

"All I'm saying is don't get preoccupied. You might be leading us, and I give you credit for that, you know? I mean, I can't seem to get over my compulsion to call you 'sir,'" he admitted sheepishly. "Just have a little faith, alright?"

Diana spent a few seconds in thought. She was a firm believer in the sentiment that the only way to make sure something was done was to do it herself, but in her army life, that tended not to fly. It wasn't that she was egotistical, it was just… Well, maybe there was stress getting to her or something, because she hadn't even noticed how protective she was being of her men.

"Fair enough," she told Kelsey eventually, the corner of her mouth twitching. Then she looked him in the eye through the screens of their helmets. "Thanks."

He nodded shyly in acknowledgement.

"Now go get some sleep and loosen up," Diana commanded, half joking but half serious.

Kelsey looked like he had to physically restrain himself from saluting, and struggled with a few words before settling for a simple "Okay." With that, he went back the way he had come, the green needles of the trees barely disturbed by his passage.

Diana herself returned to the rather comfortable spot she had staked out in the first tree, and was able to doze quietly for most of the night. There were a few false alarms for her; once, she had woken suddenly, on alert, and snapped to her feet when she heard a crunching noise repeated. Her eyes had tracked the sound until she found, fifty yards out from her tree…a black squirrel. _Great_, she'd enthused sarcastically to herself, plonking down and drifting off again.

During the fourth watch, somewhere around 0430 hours, a voice crackled to life over the radio installed in Diana's helmet. It was barely a whisper, but Diana recognized the voice as she woke abruptly.

"They're on the move. I've got one headed straight for me, two to my left, and one to my right," Callahan informed the rest of the squad. He had taken one of the westernmost positions out of all the squads and would likely be the first to spot the enemy. Each Wutaian guard post was responsible for one rise and one valley, and the Blue squads had to ensure that no one got back to the base to raise the alarm.

"All right, team. Game on," Diana replied. She scanned the screen displayed at the edge of her visor and deftly handled the buttons on the side of her helmet, broadcasting her next words to the surrounding Blue and Green squad leaders. "We have an enemy sighting, approaching from the northwest as expected. Contact imminent. Engage at will."


	60. Demons

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: To Square Enix or whoever the heck it is, as usual!**

**A/N: It's back again! Whew, this was emotionally exhausting to get out. I suppose it's a good thing that I've just been in too much of a good mood to write doom and despair, but anyhow. This was kind of something new for me with the style near the end, but other than that, not much to say but a little bit of a blood-and-guts warning (although you guys have survived thus far so I imagine you're just fine :P). A little shorter, but what the hey. Enjoy!**

Also, a shout-out to (relatively speaking) new reviewers** Ereneviana, chibipinkbunny, **and** Pink is Manly! **:D Thanks, guys.

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**Chapter 60: Demons**

"Contact imminent. Engage at will."

"Third Class Blue Squad Two, standing by."

"Second Class Blue Squad Six, standing by."

"Second Class Blue Squad Nine, standing by."

"Second Class Green Squad One, standing by."

"Third Class Green Squad Two, standing by."

"Second Class Green Squad Seven, standing by."

Diana perked up her ears at that one and wondered why Cloud sounded so funny before realizing that it was a squad of Seconds, not Thirds.

"Third Class Green Squad Eleven, standing by."

They were barely done sounding off before all of the Blues received another transmission from Callahan of Squad Five. "The first wave's done, all accounted for." _Nice euphemism_, a few of the SOLDIERs thought offhandedly.

"Second Class, Squad Nine. We're looping around to the north to wait for whoever decides that something doesn't smell right," said their leader.

"Roger that," the other squad leaders replied in unison.

A few more minutes passed, during which the Wutaians realized that their soldiers weren't responding over their radios and were probably starting to suspect the reason why. Diana could hear them now, their voices drifting down the hillside so that she could just make out the words. Another reason that Shinra didn't always have to plant a bug to pick up on Wutaian intel; why bother, when your SOLDIERs had predator-level long range hearing and recording devices in their helmets?

"Contact," Callahan reported again. "Second wave—more this time, and they're more cautious."

"Roger."

Diana picked up on running footsteps this time. So the enemy was coming on stronger. They had most likely discovered a body or two and been disturbed by the lack of gunshots and, probably, much blood. That was the thing about killing with one's bare hands. It was generally less pleasant psychologically, but it was also less messy and gave the enemy more to fear than the sound of gunfire or the ringing of swords would.

One—two—were heading in her direction. Their plated shoulder and chest guards gave off a faint jingle once in a while as they ran down the hill, with their standard issue spears ending in blades in hand.

There was no thinking; just timing. Diana switched trees effortlessly, one up and one to the left to intercept the first soldier. Letting herself fall, she caught the lowermost branch and let herself fly at the enemy, wrenching her leg back to drive her shin across his throat. He didn't have time to even think about yelling before his throat closed, his trachea collapsed, and his neck snapped.

The body dropped like a stone as Diana streaked towards the second soldier, hooking an arm around his neck and slamming him back into a tree to accomplish the same effect. Unfortunately, another enemy spotted her at the same time.

She cursed as he charged, looking like he was about to let loose with a war cry. Before he realized that the SOLDIER had begun running at him, Diana had grabbed his pike and thrust it aside, stepping in close to bring a knife into the palm of her hand and cut his throat. Stepping back, she wiped the knife haphazardly on the thigh of her combat fatigues and swung up into the nearest tree, quietly praying for their souls. It took a while for a human to be absorbed back into the Lifestream, so the bodies would be hanging around for a bit.

There was another soldier creeping along off to her right, obviously more cautious. Aptly, the Squad Nine leader's voice came through Diana's headpiece: "I think they're onto us. We're about to engage on the southwestern ridge."

Diana whispered back an acknowledgment with everyone else, and leapt from tree to tree as she pursued the closest threat. Once she was directly over him, she dropped with the intent to strike from behind, but he suddenly whirled with his weapon pointed straight up.

She gasped involuntarily as she rolled in midair—he must have seen someone else attack from the trees—and his blade glanced off her shoulder guard instead. Finally, she drew her sword from her back and made an overhead swing. He blocked it with the shaft of his weapon with just the right amount of counterforce, and Diana had to give him credit, for he must have fought a SOLDIER before and survived.

Breaking away, she sprang backwards and tensed her feet against the trunk of the tree that she had come from. She flew at him, gripping her sword with both hands and prepared to strike—but he suddenly stiffened, recoiling slightly. Brushing past his pike was easy, and she sliced across his throat without another thought, deep enough to kill but not so that she severed his head. The odd moment didn't begin to bother her until later.

She dispatched six more soldiers in similar manners before the voices of the other leaders began to pipe up.

"Squad Five, report in," she ordered her squad members. All her men were accounted for, as were the enemy soldiers. The dead ones, at least.

Gods, that was morbid.

The Second Class Squad Six leader spoke up. "All right. Five minutes, then we close in. Squad Nine, what's your status?"

"We've been engaged," came the just barely strained reply. "We're doing just fine, though. No need for backup."

"Roger that. Remember, not a single one gets past any of us."

The five minutes went without event for Diana. She assumed that a couple Wutaian soldiers had tried to hide among the trees, but the SOLDIERs had an incalculable advantage regardless of this not being their home territory. There was no way the unlucky few soldiers would survive. She sent up another brief prayer for quick and painless passings for those who were dying. Other than that, she couldn't let herself dwell on it too much.

"Okay, men. Move in. Pincer movement; surround the post. You know what to do," said the Squad Six leader again. He must have been keeping time.

Diana tracked her own path back to her original tree—another benefit of having fantastic sensibilities when one was in a forest that looked the same no matter where one went—and retrieved her pack, tightening the straps a bit before beginning to leap through the boughs again. She adjusted quickly to compensating for the bulk and mass on her back. The SOLDIERs crept through the forest up the hillside, some through the trees and some on the ground.

She heard the sound of a sword piercing flesh a few dozen yards off behind her and to her left. Other than that, it was a silent kill.

Personally, she just preferred to keep to the trees. It occupied her mind while allowing her to still keep a watchful eye.

"Callahan, you got anything?" she murmured, addressing her squad members only.

"I'm in front, actually. We're cutting south to circle around," offered Steinhart, according to the transmission ID that appeared in the corner of Diana's vision. "The post's just a single building, couldn't be more than a couple rooms. A couple soldiers outside, and they look a little nervous."

"Right, then. Let's not give them a chance to sound the alarm. Secure your positions, then wait for the signal from Squad Six."

"Roger that."

There was, of course, good reason for the Wutaian guards to be nervous. But they had apparently received no news back from the soldiers who had gone to investigate the platoon of SOLDIERs down in the valley, because they hadn't in fact sent any distress signals yet. The Green squads down below had some sort of radar detector on steroids, and in this case, the need to use it would basically signify that the plan was screwed. But so far, all was well. The Wutaians had no reason to believe that their comrades weren't perfectly safe, and since the idea that it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission didn't really fly in the army, they were holding off on transmitting an official distress or warning message. The purpose of their group heading north was to take advantage of the greater resources of the garrison to see if anything fishy really was up.

"Leaders, statuses?" asked the Squad Six leader.

"Third Class Squad Two in position."

"Third Class Squad Five in position."

"Second Class Squad Nine, awaiting your arrival. The enemy has been intercepted and routed. All SOLDIERs accounted for."

"Good work, Squad Nine. We'll be joining you shortly. Squads Two, Five, and Six: move in."

* * *

Of course, emptying the guard post of everything living had been easy. Quick and quiet, the SOLDIERs swept through the area and joined their comrades farther north along the ridge. The leaders convened and conferred briefly, and Diana offered to notify the Greens of their success. All it took was a brief exchange, and in a moment, she imagined she could almost see the transmission waves disappearing into the air as they crackled from one of the Green leaders off to the north. To the decoy invasion force.

To Zack.

Diana dutifully ignored the jolt that passed through the little space between her ribcage and her lungs at that thought. If she lost focus and did something stupid, there would be too many people who wouldn't be able to forgive her. Plus one potentially very cross deity.

The forces spread out again, although not as much this time, and as they drew closer to the fort, they slowed a bit. They ought to wait to make their move until they heard the sounds of an ostentatious charge being made.

_"So stealth goes out the window once we acquire the SOLDIER kid."_

_"Pretty much, yeah. Trust me, Zack's good with ostentatious."_

A little snort came through her nose as she decreased her speed to a jog. Little unexpected memories like that would be causing a stinging behind her eye sockets for a while, she expected. She reminded herself of the serene closure that Finn had experienced in the hours and days before his death, and that he would have wanted her to keep on track.

_Crackle_. "GO."

* * *

Taking the fort was like killing. It was bloody, it was unexpected, and it was easy. Physically easy, that is.

There was concrete and security measures and technology.

There were databases and viruses and communications filling the air so thick that it was nearly tangible.

There were firewalls, technological and physical, and they all had to be broken down because there were defenders that the invaders needed to invade upon.

There was a surge, a charge, a stab, a shot.

There was a brief reunion amidst the carnage and then it was back to the smoke and shouts and slaughter.

There was fearful talk among the enemy of a red-eyed demon wielding a sword amongst the monsters of the unstoppable ranks, and it was said that they were all of them cursed and doomed.

There were bodies, excrement, and vomit, and for some, there were realizations that the movies use so much fake blood because there really is that much blood when a man gurgles and crumples to the ground, slain of the slash of a sword to the jugular.

There was murder, but you weren't supposed to call it that, acknowledge it that way.

There were no survivors.

There was, however, victory, since you were supposed to call it that.

There were reinforcements—allies—and there was a collective sigh of relief.

There was the end of a brief experiment in warfare and a combination of sick satisfaction that it had gone so well and trepidation at what would be next.

There was the locking down of authority and declarations and honorable mentions.

And finally there was a fort left behind in the dust, and there was a ship and there was salt water all around and there was the blur of a journey and a step onto solid ground again and more marching and finally there was some sort of corrupt success ceremony and then, then, then there was a room.

* * *

A duffel bag was discarded on the floor, its guts spilling out, and clothes hastily tossed here and there on a rampage in and out of a bathroom and a trailing wake of linen bandages.

A girl—a young woman, really—ripped her way through the halls of the dorms and finally found what she was looking for. She didn't particularly care that she was barely comprehensively dressed and that her sneakers were untied as she barreled into a courtyard where about a score of men were standing or milling about.

A few made up the best of the best of SOLDIER and were her friends; several were Seconds in uniform; more were Thirds that knew her as Devon. But she had eyes for exactly one person, and it was as if he felt her coming as he turned before he could have heard her. As she leapt unabashedly at him, he wrapped her in his arms and spun twice with her momentum before whispering that he had promised he'd come back in one piece. And with absolutely no sense of propriety, she crushed her mouth to his and whispered back in a moment that she was never letting him go alone again.


	61. After the Storm

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: *breaks out into song* I don't own anything of particular importance!**

**A/N: I know it's been forever...and I know it's short. The break-ups were really, really necessary, though, and the next couple chapters will be out in _much_ quicker succession.  
I love you all. Thank you everyone for your reviews and encouragement - I've been getting yet more notifications and I just can't believe it - and for sticking with me, if you have. It means the world.  
Okay, enough of that. Now enjoy! I enjoyed writing this bit enough... *cackles***

* * *

**Chapter 61: After the Storm**

**Tuesday, 10 September**

_Keep walking. It's fine; just act natural. You're supposed to be here at this hour, on this floor._

_It's recovery day for the SOLDIERs returning from tour in Wutai anyway. You're probably visiting your brother, making sure he's alright, asking him what went on for those few days._

_Those blessedly few days._

_You have friends here. Some of the SOLDIERs even know you as Diana. You're fine; you're just checking in._

_Checking in with Zack._

_Oh, gods._

Diana blushed furiously as she tried to walk normally to make it to Tifa's in one piece. It was so late in the morning—and by late she meant about 9:30—that had she needed to attend any sort of training, she would have been toast. But she had known she hadn't, which was precisely why she'd spent the previous night with Zack.

In all senses of the phrase.

The short end of the stick was that all the gossipy young cadets had the opportunity to witness her odyssey from the upper-echelon SOLDIER dorms to Tifa's. And they all knew what it meant when a girl left those dorms, particularly her.

"Help," she muttered as a few SOLDIERs in the hall who knew her "brother" suddenly dropped their voices. One winked as she passed. She closed her eyes and prayed for patience.

Finally, she reached her best friend's apartment, and tried to let herself in, but it was locked.

"Tifa," she nearly whined, knocking quickly.

An answering yawn came from the other side, and a clearly exhausted Tifa opened the door promptly.

"Don't you look happy this morning," Diana greeted her best friend, making for the guest bedroom where her "emergency kit" was stashed. She needed to change and get a move on, and fast—she didn't even care that she had nothing scheduled for today; she wasn't taking any risks now.

"I could say the same thing about you," said Tifa dryly, stepping aside and going back to what smelled like the breakfast dishes. "And then there's this one, who won't stop being happy."

"Hey!" protested Yuffie's unmistakable voice from the kitchen. "'Morning, Di!"

"'Morning," Diana snorted, but her thoughts had drifted elsewhere. That was what Zack had greeted her with earlier that morning, although it had been in a very different tone.

Diana passed the door to Tifa's room and was snapped out of her thoughts by a rapid backtracking double take. The bed was unmade, and Tifa always made the beds. She clearly wasn't busy. So why...?

Her thoughts trailed off as she picked up the smell of bacon being scrubbed from a skillet. Tifa did not particularly care for bacon.

After snatching up her bag (which was buried inside a closet under a rack full of Tifa's heavy winter clothes and behind a spare hamper which had a sewing basket on top of it which was wedged in around the ironing board) Diana edged quietly into the kitchen doorway to get a better read on her friend.

Her face might have shown exhaustion as she listened to Yuffie with one ear, but her posture demonstrated only blissful exuberance. Diana abruptly realized that she knew the feeling as she put the bed and the bacon together.

"Oh my gods!" she blurted out way louder than she'd intended. This whole army thing was seriously damaging her ability to filter. She also blamed a bit of it on her exhaustion from last night.

Tifa nearly jumped, which was saying something, and Yuffie yelped. "What?" The martial artist's eyes darted around nervously.

"BACON!" Diana exploded. _Okay, definitely blaming this on last night._

"Again: what?"

"CLOUD LIKES BACON!" Diana emphasized like she'd just discovered the cure to mako poisoning.

"_And?_" Tifa continued to bluster, not even sure what conclusion she wanted anyone to come to right now, or what kind of reaction she wanted to elicit, or what sentiment she should be projecting. She moved around the small kitchen anxiously while Yuffie continued to look perplexed.

"He spent the night here, didn't he—" Diana began gleefully before stopping short. Yep. She saw the way her friend was walking. "You DID, didn't you?!" she nearly squealed.

Tifa didn't know how she was going to dignify that with a response, but she didn't have to, because she suddenly snapped a couple puzzle pieces of her own into place. "Oh my gods, YOU did too! Look at you, you're, you're—radiating!"

"_What in the NAME of mother Shiva did everyone do last night?!_" Yuffie finally shrieked.

The two others shared a very knowing look. "Maybe we'll explain it to you when you're older—" Dian began cheekily, but was interrupted as the teenager suddenly—Ifrit knew how—caught on.

"I—oh. OH. Oh, gods." Tifa and Diana were pretty sure that their younger friend didn't know whether to be horrified or delighted.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Diana joked with a straight face, nodding, just to freak her out.

"GAHHH!"

"So how was it? I mean, I know you waited for Cloud—"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on, I don't think we really need to get into the gritty details here, uh—"

"No, no, you tell first, you on the other hand have a frame of reference."

"HEY. Is anybody listening to me?"

"Oh, it was fantastic. When we got back to his apartment last night, he—"

"TOO! MUCH! GODSDAMN! INFORMATION!"

"This is nothing; I could go on for hours about how—"

"LAAAAAALALALALALACAN'THEARYOULALALALALAAAAAA—"

* * *

**Several hours later**

Room 192 was a different place. It was true that the apartment had had several days to air out and rid itself of the trademark stink of youths, but the suspiciously clean furniture wasn't the most palpable change in the 800-odd square feet.

The bond between the four tenants hadn't withered; no, it had certainly changed, but it had grown stronger. Tougher, in a new sort of way. They had all grown in new ways, and they had all paid their prices for it.

Max had taken men down from above, or behind, with silenced weapons that never told the victim or the few witnesses exactly what had happened. He had gunned down men in a free-for-all firefight that had painted the floors of the enemy garrison with the color of his company of Reds.

Shane had laid waste to a landscape with incendiary materia that should never have been used on such a scale and in such an environment. There was probably a forest fire raging in the region even now, and the scorched bodies of the enemy would do nothing to stop it.

Cloud had lain in wait for an attack team that he knew probably wouldn't even reach his company, hearing the subtle sounds of sudden death in the forest and feeling sick to his stomach. He had then moved on to haunt the sights of every enemy that had ever heard of the unmatched power and speed of a SOLDIER wielding a blade. He would have haunted their dreams to come as well, had there been any survivors; but the stories would go on nonetheless.

Diana had nearly thrown away all her precautions at pretending to be a man as she waited as an assassin and struck like a deadly viper at those who passed through her territory. She had used her hands as instruments of such death that she, like Cloud, would inspire her own stories. Stories that would tell of a red-eyed demon that took the form of a young man and killed wantonly.

Yes, they had all changed. And they could only pray to Mother Gaia as hard as they could that they would be forgiven and come out of their own internal tempests in one piece.


	62. Onward and Upward

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I be dissin' them claims.**

**A/N: So many thanks to everyone just for freaking reading at this point. I love you all. And of course glompings abound for: ShatterTheHeavens (Where would my self-esteem be without you ^^'), Kyoichi Amaya (Yes indeed my dear; just about EVERYone "did it" the previous night xD), 0kami (Aw, thanks!), and SlowActingPoison (*nomming noises* They all say thank you!)**

**Welp, here we go. To victory!**

* * *

**Chapter 62: Onward and Upward**

**The next day: Wednesday, 11 September**

The room stank again.

Maybe it was for the better that some things never changed, even if the result smelled like old sweaty clothes, feet, and something vaguely food-ish no matter how often Diana took the laundry to Tifa's while the boys drew straws for kitchen and bathroom duties.

The four SOLDIERs were still in full uniform, left over from their respective training sessions that afternoon. Somehow, no one had quite felt like showering, which was why Diana was sprawled on the couch munching on whatever she had most recently whipped up from the kitchen. Cloud was on the floor doing his stretches, and Max was staying far away from where Shane was yet again reorganizing his materia (no one had forgotten the incident with the ceiling fan, and they were unlikely to forget it for the duration of their lives).

Recently, Diana had been thinking back to times like that—not the ill-conceived materia rescue plot, of course, but rather the odd moments that she had shared with various significant people. That didn't really narrow it down at all, but it was the first and most accurate description to come to mind.

Maybe she was getting paranoid, but after that little conversation that she and Angeal had had in the kitchen while making soup as Aerith healed Genesis of that blasted shoulder wound, she could have sworn that he had looked a tad too closely at her right cheek during the times that she was supposed to be Devon. She had been extra careful with her makeup and had even participated in some exasperatingly testosterone-fueled activities to help convince herself that she was really selling the role.

And she still wondered what Angeal had pulled Zack aside for that night.

But maybe it was private and none of her concern, and maybe she would never know.

At least she wasn't still blushing at the mere thought of Zack. That had been utterly ridiculous. The first time that she saw him as Devon since they came back from Wutai, she had let out a rather alarming squeak that was embarrassing no matter who it was coming from, and thank Gaia that Zack had clearly attributed it to the "twins" being too quick to share everything with each other, even things the other really didn't want to hear about.

"…you eating, Dev?"

"Mm?" She was interrupted just as she started to panic vaguely about the time she had told Genesis about the properties of her eye colors.

"What are you eating?" Max repeated, looking mildly curious.

"Lima beans." At her friend's immediate retreat into Horrified Double-Chin Pose, Diana grinned wickedly and added, "Want one?" as she mimed tossing a handful to him.

The firearms specialist yelped and dodged clean out of his chair before realizing that she hadn't actually thrown anything, and stuck his tongue out childishly. "Keep 'em, ya freak of nature."

"That's me."

"Is there anything you _don't_ eat?" This came from Shane, seated on the floor with his legs splayed out as he fiddled around with his precious materia.

"Broccoli," she responded instantly, garnering a few weird looks. "No seriously, our parents had the worst time with us as kids. D—Di hates weird food and likes all the good, normal stuff, and I'm the opposite." No one noticed the stumble. Gods, she was really cracking. Objectively, she supposed she could blame it on the combat-induced psychological damage, but she was trying not to think about that.

"Speaking of your sister," Max began far too casually, "Where were _you_ the night before last?"

"…I fail to see how those two things correspond," she deadpanned, but her nervous flush and sudden increase in heart rate betrayed her before she could get a handle on her physiological reaction. Damn it, they could definitely hear her heartbeat, she concluded as Shane suddenly joined in on Max's growing wicked grin.

Wait. They _were_ just making some sort of reference-joke, weren't they? They didn't think she was…well, not herself—did they? No, they couldn't have possibly guessed or somethi—ohgodswhatiftheydidI'mnotreadyforthis—

"Well, you see, rumor has it that your sister was seen—"

She pounced on the opportunity to deter the right kind of suspicion. "Oh, no. No no no, if I hear any more about this I'm gonna lose it. I was already on the receiving end of way too much information on this subject, so if you please!" she blustered.

"I see," said Max, grinning wider.

"And what information, pray tell, did _you_ have to share?" asked Shane out of left field.

"…

"…_What_?" was all she was able to get out, although she'd been banking on some witty improvised response coming out. "I mean—er...that is—"

_Wait a second_, said a mysterious, suspiciously wise inner voice of hers. _What are you doing? Don't you remember anything? Roll with it. Make stuff up, whatever, just run with whatever impression they have and you'll stay out of trouble._

…_Oh_, she dumbly responded to the voice.

_Duh_, it sassed her.

"Well, I sure wasn't gonna bring a girl back here, now was I?" she finally produced.

"Called it!" Max gloated. "Pay up!"

As Shane groaned and fished for some gil in his wallet, Max shot Diana a sly glance. "I bet that you and Diana would get laid the same night."

"I can't decide if that's creepy or not," the SOLDIER who was in fact Diana declared, still trying to recover from her blushing.

"Well, it was right, wasn't it?"

"I mean…yeah. But, still. Oh, and also, before you ask, yes she was attractive. Rather. Dark hair, exactly my type." Besides the female pronoun, it was totally true, she thought with a smirk.

"I didn't know you even _had_ a type," Shane complained from the floor, his wallet depressingly lighter.

Suddenly, Cloud grunted at his vibrating PHS. He tumbled to his feet, reluctantly abandoning the beginning of a handstand, when he saw who the message was from.

Just as Diana turned to look at him, her own device buzzed, and she frowned at the same time as he did. "One of the Director's secretaries?" she mouthed at him, even though everyone could hear her anyway.

"I guess. Holy shit," he exclaimed. "Summoned to see the Director himself?"

"And simultaneously."

Max stood up quickly out of his chair and dug his phone out of his pocket. "I got nothing." Shane also shrugged blankly as he glanced at his screen.

"Well." Cloud exchanged a look with Diana. "Helmets. Let's go." _Which is dumb, because how are they going to recognize us anyway?_ he thought. It was a stupid bit of uniform protocol, really; hardly a security measure. But Thirds and especially cadets had to stick to it.

"Huh. Who knows," Diana said absently, grabbing the remaining parts of her uniform. "See you guys later, I guess."

She waited until they were all the way to the stairwell at the far end of the hall before saying, barely audibly: "Cloud? What if this is it?"

He whipped his head around so fast that he nearly saw stars. "What?" he asked loudly.

"Shh. I mean, what if they know? I hope that's not it and all, but, well. If it is, then you know the drill."

Her grim and almost detached focus was freaking him out. "I'm sure—gods," he realized. If the Director did smell something fishy, wouldn't it make sense to bring in "Devon's" roommate and closest friend to get a confession out ASAP? If Lazard was straightforward about it, the two of them wouldn't even have any time to confer, or to construct an alibi, or even to decide on matching stories given the evidence against them.

"_If this is it_," Diana emphasized, grinding out the words—Cloud knew she could tell what he was thinking— "then you know _absolutely nothing_. Can you promise me that? Because if not, I swear to Gaia I'm going to throw you off a building right now just to get you sent straight to the hospital wing."

He was tempted to crack some kind of joke at the threat, but this was just too serious a topic for that. She would do it, too, if it was the most convenient option that was fairly likely to get him out of the line of fire, as it were. "Consider it a promise," he replied quietly. There was no way around it, but he still hated the way her shoulders relaxed a little bit at the knowledge that he would cooperate. And he'd never go back on his word; they both knew that.

"Okay, let's do this," Diana said bracingly as they stared at a set of steel double doors a few minutes later. She paused as they both glanced at the intercom box to the left of the doors. "You do it. I don't trust my voice quite yet."

"Mm." Cloud coughed unnecessarily and hit the buzzer.

A female voice paged through after about point-two-seconds asking for their names, positions, and business.

"SOLDIERs Third Class Cloud Strife and Devon Loveless, reporting to the Director as ordered."

_Zzzt_. "Very good. Please enter."

Neither of them had been to the Director's business office before, but they'd heard about the giant holographic display screen from Zack's stories about his mission briefings, so that was hardly mistakable. Lazard was sitting in a swivel chair behind a modern, semicircular desk, his fingers steepled expectantly but not unpleasantly.

"Director Lazard," Cloud and Diana began when they stopped a respectful distance away, several significant notches below drill sergeant volume. "SOLDIERs of the Third Class—"

"—Cloud Strife—"

"—and Devon Loveless—"

"—reporting as ordered, sir!" They saluted.

"Of course. Timely as always, men." Lazard almost smirked, appearing to be enjoying a private joke.

Diana's left eyebrow twitched. She was getting distinct flashbacks to the Conference Room Incident, which had of course been preceded by the Zack Attack Incident, which had been whipped up by the Instantaneous Hallucination and Fainting Incident.

Lazard definitely caught on, and took a moment to further dwell on the memory before sobering. "At ease," he said absently.

Diana had never been more grateful for her feet being shoulders' width apart instead of snapped together at attention in her life. Another minute or two of suspense and she probably would have keeled right over.

The Director was studying them both quietly.

_Oh, gods, he knows, I know he knows, come one, don't drag it out_. There was a window thirty feet to her left, and she could probably survive the fall if she couldn't direct her leap properly or didn't have anything to catch onto. Or, if she was spontaneous enough, maybe she could turn around and get out the way she came and then jump the fence to the shipment yard. _Just say it already, come on, I know what you're going to say, you're just being cruel right now, you know that I know that you know, you must._

_JUST GIVE ME AN EXCUSE TO RUN._

"Relax; you aren't in trouble." The Director smiled wanly. "You'd think I was about to give a court sentence."

_Is he being ironic on purpose?! Or is this honestly just something el—_

"Let me ask you men something." _Great, here it comes_. "You've just come back from your first short tour. How are you sleeping?"

They were both just about ready to blurt out "_What_?" but thankfully their propriety instincts took over and it came out as "Sir?"

"I'm being serious." The Director raised his eyebrows. "I just want an honest answer."

The two glanced at each other. "Not well," Diana began slowly.

Cloud had been having nightmares. Waking up drenched in cold sweat multiple times a night, the whole nine yards. He had also been trying to sleepwalk, his eyes wide open without seeing anything. Diana had had to wrestle him to the ground before, just to get him to calm down enough so that he would go immobile again and she could haul him back into his bed.

And Diana had been talking in her sleep a lot. Screaming, even. The night before, she had started tearing around the room blindly, and Cloud had had to hold her back for about an hour while she struggled against him—somehow refusing to wake up—so that she wouldn't hurt herself or anyone else.

Their experiences in combat were surely what had brought this on.

"But we won't complain, sir," Cloud said immediately.

Lazard again expectantly raised an eyebrow.

"Some of the things we did…" Cloud stopped himself. "I mean—well, I don't think the experience was quite what we were expecting. That's all." The SOLDIERs both knew they couldn't say anything more.

"It never is," Lazard said in the same, almost sad tone.

Suddenly it hit Diana. _He got it_. He understood what they really wanted to say, that the things they had done had been horrible and inhumane. He knew what Shinra was really all about, and he _didn't agree with it_.

Now she knew how Angeal and Zack had been getting off the hook for their "unconventional" methodology and ideals for as long as they had.

"If it's any consolation," the Director went on, barely audibly, "it makes me think more highly of you as men."

Wow. Well, there it was.

"On that note—" he was back to his normal serious voice— "you have also garnered the favor of the Senior Council through your…deeds in war. Did you know that the more superstitious of the Wutaian people thought you a pair of demons? They now think that Shinra has harnessed the powers of spirits—the Red Demon and the Blue Demon, as they call you, for your eyes, I suppose."

Of course. Their eyes were visible through their helmet visors, and as Cloud had shakily informed Diana once they were back on the continent, her eyes turned red when she fought hard in life-or-death combat.

"They're telling stories about you now—" gods, that was sick— "and of course the Council loves to hear about SOLDIERs who make names for themselves like that. All of which sums up to why I summoned you here.

"Congratulations. You've each been promoted to Second Class.

"In addition to your exceptional progress and—" he hesitated ever so slightly— "skills as SOLDIERs, you also exhibited impressive quantities of leadership and initiative. I know that you, Loveless, have no love of being a leader and issuing orders." He nodded at Diana. "And yet you assumed the role professionally and efficiently."

Now he turned his steely eyes on Cloud. "And you, Strife, prefer not to make the decisions. But with responsibility for others placed in your hands, you became decisive and unexpectedly commanding." The Director smiled almost sadly at the two of them. "You would be surprised how many men lose confidence in situations like these, putting themselves and others at risk."

Cloud and Diana shared a look. Their actions had been instinctive; they hadn't even considered the possibility of acting otherwise. For the first time, they realized that that was exactly why they were there.

The Director went on. "Your new uniforms are inside these boxes." He patted the stack sitting at the front of his desk. "Your housing assignments will be rearranged within a week—we still have that shipment of cadets to deal with—and you will also have new responsibilities to see to, which you'll be briefed on accordingly. Good afternoon, SOLDIERs," he dismissed them, but then added: "Oh, and you may remove your helmets. They're no longer obligatory for you." He quirked a half smile.

Oh.

For Diana, that was what made it real. She didn't even remember numbly grabbing her box, saluting, and exiting back into the hallway with Cloud.

Who faintly said, "Punch me," at some point on their way out of the building.

Diana did so blindly, still staring straight ahead with a somewhat dazed expression.

"Oh my gods." He stopped dead and faced her. "That just happened."

"We just got promoted," she agreed, now looking vaguely puzzled.

"You know what this means."

"Do you know what this _means_?!"

They grabbed onto each other's shoulders.

Cloud nearly choked. "This means we did it."

"You've accomplished what you set out to. This is _it_!"

"Hah! This is only the freaking beginning! Just wait!"

"How the hell did this happen?"

"You pulled it off! Look at you!"

"Look at _you_! My gods, how you've…grown."

There was probably a full minute of near-hysterical half-laughter.

Then Cloud sobered and said, "So this really is it, then. Time for you to… Unless you've changed your mind?"

She shook her head. "No, this is really it. I've waited too long as it is. And your promise still stands."

He didn't like it, she could tell, but he nodded grimly anyway. Good. He didn't have to like it; he just had to follow through so he could stay safe.

"Saturday," her alto voice broke into the silence as they began to walk again. "That's the best option right now. I'll warn Tifa, too." She wanted to make this as easy as possible for Zack to handle when she broke it to him, no matter his reaction. His right to know came first.

_The time's totally gonna drag until then, I know it_, came her initial pessimistic reaction.

But it was ridiculous that the biggest goal and accomplishment of her life thus far was being overshadowed by the biggest, highest-stakes, most complex, most deceptive and most completely insane gamble of her life thus far.

Wait.

Good Gaia, this was absurd.

It just got weirder when she realized that she should spend part of this interim time trying to figure out who was behind all the organized attempts on her life. She'd nearly forgotten about that while on tour on Wutai; what did _that_ say for her mental health and the state of her life in general?

She suspected that Cloud was organizing his own thoughts as well, and she began to formulate her strategy for the next few days. Before the Revelation, she thought with a snort. B.R. How grandiose.

As part of her don't-kick-me-out-or-have-me-killed appeal in the period After the Revelation, she would have to quote the Director, obviously. She'd also have to set things up so that she'd be committed for duties in the A.R. period. Nothing that would really screw over the people she liked in the event that she had to flat out flee the city and possibly the continent—she had to admit it was a possibility, one she had accepted long ago. (And in such an event, she planned to head north.) But enough to assert her value to the Company.

And in B.R., it was going to be awfully fun to go out of her way to be an absolute model Second Class SOLDIER. She would have to learn and pick up her new duties exceptionally fast, of course, while still keeping up her training and demonstrating use of the new perks and authority available to her. Now there would be no more compulsory helmet-wearing (thank Gaia) and she would have free rein of the virtual training facilities. New grades and types of materia were now accessible to her—and if she was being honest, that could use some work.

At some point, she and Cloud Ended up at Tifa's door. The martial artist—clearly having just returned home after a no doubt grueling experience with the new load of cadets—opened it almost immediately, and stopped whatever it was that she was going to say when she saw the identical goofy grins on their faces. "All right, spill. What happened to you two?"

She knew it was something to do with the fact that they were here at all, never mind the way they had their helmets carelessly slung over their shoulders, since they were very clearly on duty. But she really caught on when her two favorite people in the world shared a conspiratorial look before simultaneously whipping off the lids to two identical black boxes that they each held in their arms.

Tifa stared at the dark red-violet fabric for a moment. Then she fairly shrieked: "Do you know what this _means_?!"


	63. Tension and Suspension

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: _You own nothing, 24601...!_ Oh, wait, wrong fandom...**

**A/N: Well, everyone, here we go! The tension continues to build as the fateful weekend approaches! How will Second Class SOLDIER Diana Loveless' great revelation play out? And what of the mysterious organization that's out to get her?**

**Thanks, everyone who read, story alerted, faved, and reviewed, including: ShatterTheHeavens (Indeed it is; in fact, it's practically here! *bites nails* It's been a long time coming, too! This chapter is the setup. Literally. And Cloud and Diana thank you :) Enjoy, my dear!) and Catslock (Eek! Thanks for the faves! :D Enjoy.)**

* * *

**Chapter 63: Tension and Suspension**

**Thursday, 12 September**

Diana ducked under a barrage of bullets as she bolted across the mouth of a back alley. The soldiers' trigger fingers couldn't keep up with her speed, and she leapt up onto a dumpster in a single bound to get the higher ground. There were more coming down a perpendicular avenue, and as one man raised his firearm, she executed a flawless barrel roll and simultaneously let loose the equivalent of a flamethrower from the brace on her left arm. The flames emitted an unnaturally low number of sparks as she flipped herself to the roof of the building that the dumpster was up against.

With an electronic crackle and fizz, the entire incoming squad of soldiers dissipated into so many pixels before vanishing, leaving only a massive scorch mark reminiscent of an oil spill.

_Impressive_, she congratulated herself sardonically as the virtual display on the inside of her visor ticked off the number defeated and the number remaining. _Only two and a half platoons left to go._

On the other hand, three dumpsters, a lean-to outhouse, the roofs of six buildings, and two shacks on the way down the alley were now either aflame or flayed apart as if in the wake of a tornado.

She was trying to master Fire Materia.

And theoretically, this particular exercise should have helped. It was a textbook simulation mission, laid out as a scenario of enemy forces taking the city. The test was designed, besides the obvious, for SOLDIERs to learn to use their incredible power to the fullest while maintaining a degree of restraint that wouldn't completely level Midgar. (It was also useful for Shinra to be aware of how many squads of enemies a SOLDIER could take out on his own, for planning purposes.) Diana was trying to work out her feelings and sort out her thoughts, while at the same time attempting to master an entire class of weapon faster than should have been possible.

So the bit about restraint was kind of still a work on progress.

_Okay, so what do I know?_ she thought as she literally rained fire down on a squad of digital enemies from the rooftop. _This mystery organization is producing SOLDIER-like super-spies using a modified cloning process. The 'clones' are brainwashed and kept isolated in an unknown location, possibly in a mountain range based on the climate and the fact that they seem to be underground. They appear to have been taught that SOLDIERs are inferior to them—too emotional, thus too weak, thus too human._

She avoided more gunfire and did some fancy roof-hopping while slapping another Materia into place, casting an iffy but effective multiple-target spell while she was upside-down and airborne between two buildings. A few more quick, precise strikes and there was another squad down.

_Everything just points to a Shinra rogue. And Hojo's dead. There's got to be someone continuing his work, carrying on his legacy—_

She almost slipped off the roof, even as she caught sight of a whole platoon headed for the inner walls of the simulated city and gave chase.

_His legacy? Holy shit, NO._

_Not Vincent._

As she barely prevented another incendiary mass from quite literally backfiring on her, she thought over what Zack had told her about Vincent's family history. He seemed to hate Hojo ten times more than she and Aerith did combined, and with good reason. That just didn't make even the slightest bit of sense.

Then again, these days, nothing did. She resolved to call in an information favor from Reno Sinclair ASAP. If it was business, and shit was serious enough, he'd cooperate without a second's hesitation.

Sliding down a warped roof, shingles flew out around her as she grabbed onto the rusty gutter, ripping a section clear off and hurling it straight down the alley to distract the digital images as she fumbled to get the auxiliary materia out of its slot. All she needed was to properly channel one big strike.

Stupid simulated soldiers. They did nothing for her mental state, harshly reminding her that their living counterparts had not in fact murdered her brother. Instead, she had murdered dozens—scores—of them over the last goddamn weekend, in part earning her a promotion of all things, while the pawns of a mastermind carrying on a certified psychopath's work had been the real perpetrators.

AND SHE JUST COULDN'T FIGURE ANYTHING OUT ANYMORE.

She gave a strangled scream and lost control of the materia—it was much more volatile in the hands of a SOLDIER, since they didn't tire and become drained like normal humans—causing a fireball to belch from her outstretched arm and ricochet all the way down the alley, dissolving the pixelated soldiers as it went and blasting through an entire building at the end.

It was a really good thing that the remaining number, according to her visor display, were coming up behind her, because otherwise she probably would have destroyed the entire neighborhood with her final blast, instead of just the majority of the street they were coming up.

The Materia probably leveled up at that point, one step closer to mastery, but she didn't really notice.

Breathing heavily and eyeing the scorch marks all around her, she squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to calm down as the scenery began to reset, since the mission was completed. The automated voice in her helmet activated with a _ping_, and she ignored it in favor of pressing her palms together in an effort to dissipate her own anger.

_I am not homicidal. I am not angry at the world. It does not deserve my wrath. I do not want to be the cause of pain. I am not a mindless killing machine. I am not the Company's pawn. I am not going to hurt anyone. They do not deserve my wrath. I am going to calm down. I am going to be okay._

Her bright green eyes opened as the simulation's pixels crumbled down around her to reveal the inside of one of the virtual training rooms.

_I am not going to let this happen to anyone else._

_This has to stop._

She shook her arms out as she doffed the helmet, cleaning out the interior with an antibacterial wipe (not like SOLDIERs were prone to infection, but it was still protocol) and dismantling her Materia brace just for safety's sake. Her sword and other equipment were still tucked safely into a corner of the room, and she slung it all on and exited the room with a fierce look in her eyes.

She was going to come out of this alive, shake the Company's gods-damned foundations, and change the world.

And she was going to do it as Diana Loveless.

* * *

**Meanwhile, Somewhere on the Midgar Continent…**

Let her suffer?

Oh, yes; she had suffered, all right.

They had all done their part, served their time—and yet it was so far from over. They would be sent back, those young SOLDIERs with their naïve dreams. They would go back to the bloody continent and perhaps kill a few innocents along with the enemy soldiers this time.

But not Devon Loveless, newly promoted and up-and-coming golden boy. 'Devon' had survived the war campaign, of course. And in full glory—there had been tales circulating of a demon in the body of a slender young man whose eyes glowed a bloody fire crimson and who killed with crazed abandon.

Nothing less could be expected of that would-be boy, the man thought in a sick imitation of paternal pride. He was pacing again, in his mansion of wires and tubes and metal and machinery, though more calmly now, meditatively. After all, he had a plan to formulate.

For the one known as Devon Loveless was going to have a flawlessly executed convenient accident, and Diana Loveless would never be seen again.

Just like her brother.


	64. Aftershock

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I totally freaking own this chapter. I latched onto this chapter years ago and nothing shall wrest it from my grasp! (Except the parts that I don't actually own!)**

**A/N: Two words: _plot twist_.**

**Thank you to Sarah for your review! :D It's good to hear from you again. It's nice knowing I'm still holding onto you lovely people :) Thank you so much my dear and enjoy the holy crap chap!**

**And thanks to everyone who alerted, faved, etc., and of course read! Read on, my friends, and I'd love to hear your reactions to this one!**

* * *

**Chapter 64: Aftershock**

**Friday, 13 September, 0930 hours**

"Guys, I'm teaching a class starting Monday," Cloud said for the sixth time, not sounding any less horrified or any more reassured.

"Cloud. Buddy." Diana rubbed her temples. She'd popped six painkillers fifteen minutes ago and they still weren't having any effect on her raging headache. "So am I. Worrying doesn't help; you know that."

He glanced her way guiltily, knowing how she'd been feeling lately, with all that was going on. In addition, he knew more than most about what was ailing her. Although he couldn't explain what looked like an abnormal killer of a headache, he knew she was torn up about the whole Wutai experience, first off. Then there was confronting the people who were truly responsible for the death of her brother, and trying to find out the too-well-hidden truth about their existence and operations.

On top of that, there was the fact that she had been compelled to commit those murders in war—really, that was what they were; he'd be honest—because she had worked her way into becoming a now substantially-high-ranking member of that army masquerading as that dead brother in an attempt to fulfill his dream, whilst promptly falling in love with a commanding officer whom she had also had to deceive in order to keep him safe, never mind all of her friends, only to come to realize that nearly this entire Company had sunk to about the ninth circle of moral hell, thus propelling her into a destructive spiral that had, thankfully, resulted in her coming out of it with a white-hot resolve to change the world through all that she was planning on following through with.

Tomorrow.

Maybe that was the source of the headache.

He saw his friend's arm twitch slightly, and he pursed his lips. Max and Shane were oblivious, happily alternating between fighting over the potato chips and discussing SOLDIER ranking in light of their friends' recent promotions. Cloud was at least glad that their happy-go-lucky roommates appeared to be dealing sufficiently with their own personal brands of war trauma.

But Diana, he was worried about. Genuinely worried, and that didn't happen often.

Her muscle control was slightly off, for some reason. That never, ever happened, but he supposed it could be a result of the intensive training she'd taken on. Materia wasn't like a regular weapon; magic drained you mentally, since it called on the energy of the planet and then used your mind as a conductor in order to cast a spell. It in turn would drain you physiologically, although these effects were significantly dampened in SOLDIERs because of their increased stamina.

As Diana began grumbling—also for about the sixth time—about how the virtual training facilities were currently unavailable due to demonstrations and tours for the new cadets, Cloud silently thanked whatever deity might have been listening at the moment for the blessing in disguise. If you asked him, that was the last thing she needed right now. A thought struck him, and he suddenly starting praying even harder that she didn't get any ideas about tackling a Thunder type materia until her emotions had leveled out and a good amount of time had passed. All they needed was an angry female SOLDIER learning how to strike lightning down on people.

Assuming she was around at Shinra for that long. He nearly choked. If things went south, like really south, on Saturday, then he ought to have a contingency plan. He had, of course, considered the possibility that if Diana were exiled or otherwise—despite accepting it, he had been refusing to think the words of the worst possible scenario—he might be tortured. Having seen what he had at Shinra, at this point he would hardly be surprised. Some sort of truth serum would almost be a shock, but considering the Department of Scientific Development, not really.

The same went for Tifa, Zack, Yuffie unless she could escape, and maybe Max and Shane. Gaia only knew who else. And Zack's reputation with the higher-ups didn't need any jeopardization; that was for sure. The weekend's campaign might have won some points in his favor, but not if any really loyalists among the SOLDIER or cadet ranks had squealed to an authority figure about Zack's true words to them in Wutai.

It would be safer for them all if they denied any and all knowledge and/or suspicion of the truth about Diana Loveless.

Which was why a contingency plan was vital.

While Cloud tried not to explode from all the pent-up tension, Diana groaned quietly, cursing the medication that was refusing to work. Besides the migraine—it had to be a migraine; she didn't think she'd ever felt anything like this before—her impossible amount of training lately had resulted in her keeping her bandages wrapped much more than usual: more than was probably healthy. The skin around the borders of the linen was developing a bit of a rash and felt sore, which didn't help her overall mood.

The door to the dormitory hall was propped open, so the air was circulating just fine, and she had been downing water like a chocobo that had been stranded in the desert for days in case it was just dehydration. But after the third time in two hours of getting up to use the bathroom, she had decided that that wasn't it.

Everyone heard the jogging steps on the stairs at the far end of the building, but no one really paid attention to them until they approached down the hallway towards their room. They all felt intuitively that the footsteps were meant for them, but as Diana immediately recognized the gait, she nearly gave in and screamed.

It was Zack.

She probably would have slept better had she stayed at his place the past couple nights, but she just didn't feel…right…doing that. Of course she wanted to—gods, she wanted to—she still shivered remembering the night that she had spent there—but in light of the impending Revelation, she felt like she was lying to him by being so selfishly close to him. Of course she would have rather told him as soon as she could—hell, she would have told him a long time ago and taken the consequences—but regardless of the price she could pay for that, it could cost him even more by comparison. Of course she loved him—so deeply, so wonderfully, so heartbreakingly, so hard, so much that it hurt—but if she didn't remove herself from the equation here and told him, she didn't know what might happen to him. She loved him so much that she had to make him hate her.

Needless to say, he was the last person she wanted to see right now.

"Hey, guys."

They all responded with varying degrees of enthusiasm, the low point singlehandedly consisting of Diana. She gloomily hoped that he'd just chalk it up to 'Devon's' slight embarrassment about recent events.

"I figured you'd be about as bored as I am, so do you wanna go check out the medical wing? Something's going on," he offered as an explanation, leaning against the doorframe and shoving his hands into his uniform pockets.

"And how do you know that?" Cloud asked suspiciously.

"I may or may not have intercepted a message to Genesis from Aerith." He didn't even bat an eye, and promptly grinned fiendishly. "C'mon, let's go."

The rest grunted their approvals and locked the door to follow Zack along to the medical wing. Diana rolled her shoulders and tried to concentrate and yet not concentrate at all on the present.

It was difficult.

Maybe she would take a health day today. By that she meant a couple hours of yoga and some weights, plus a solid hour of stretching while playing loud music, and if she felt like it, maybe a bit of practice with some fancy gymnastics-inspired moves. And a high-protein diet. That was crucial.

She kind of spaced out as Zack got them clearance into Aerith's ward, which was apparently the source of the rumor-worthy information that Zack had filched from Genesis' PHS. The story was that the external city patrol had picked someone up in the desert early that morning, dehydrated and half dead. However, no one seemed to know who the man was. Probably a runaway prisoner or something, but it was mysterious enough to pique Zack's interest.

"I guess he's stabilized enough that I can let you in," Aerith grudged, upon finding herself on the receiving end of Zack's wheedling and puppy eyes. "It'll still be a while before the DNA test finishes running through completely," she explained as she discarded a pair of rubber gloves and opened the doors to the intensive care ward, "but I still find the whole situation a little…strange." Dismissing a few attendants that were lingering around the single-patient room, she closed the door behind her colleagues and took a deep breath. She, too, had a throbbing headache, along with the exhausting feeling that some detail was pounding on a door somewhere inside her head, begging to be deciphered into an absolutely essential piece of information. It felt…big. Almost like the Goddess was trying to warn her about something.

The last Cetra didn't get that feeling just any day, and when she did, it was never good.

She turned to face the five SOLDIERs, and it was immediately obvious that something was definitely very, very wrong. "He's been unconscious the entire time, so he obviously hasn't been able to answer any questions. But he hadn't been unconscious for very long when the patrols picked him up, so they could clearly see that his footprints led away from Midgar, to the southeast. I know, it doesn't make any sense. It's just a wasteland out there, and then you hit the mountains." She waved a dismissive hand at their confused expressions. "What concerns me more is the—" she lowered her voice and glanced around reflexively, even though there was no one else even near the hospital room— "the levels of mako in his system. Yes, you heard that right. He's lucky he doesn't appear to have poisoning quite yet, although quite frankly I don't know how he's avoided it. He should be insane or dead by now." Grimly ignoring their expressions that ranged from baffled to horrified, she turned her bright green eyes almost pleadingly on Diana. "D-Devon, I think… I think he's one of _them_. The ones that attacked you—" here she nodded to Zack— "and Diana."

It hit her like a bag of bricks. One of them, here? On the one hand, it could be the answer to the big old life-threatening question in her life right now. On the other…well, she didn't know.

What if he was a renegade like Finn?

That idea hit her equally hard, and much more painfully. It was too much and yet too little to ask for, and she rapidly quashed her imagination. What if he was expiring? If Aerith's theory was correct, that could be a possibility as well.

"What's his physical condition like, besides, you know, unconsciousness?" she asked the medic briskly right away.

"Well, he—he's not so great. It looks like he _was_ in great shape, but he's been malnourished, not particularly well cared-for. Wherever he was coming from, he certainly picked up an army's worth of bumps and bruises along the way."

"So it's a possibility, then," Diana murmured, almost subconsciously, remembering Number Four on that doorstep in the slums way too vividly. "I can probably identify him, if he's one of them. So can Zack," she tacked on hurriedly, somehow remembering too late that 'Devon' hadn't been there.

"Alright," Aerith conceded after a second's hesitation. "I guess patient confidentiality doesn't quite count in this case. There's only a little damage to his face, so he should be pretty identifiable." The two waited for her to fully pull back the privacy screen before approaching the hospital bed, seeking out the man's face.

Diana could have noticed just how young he was, the man's sunken chest and cheeks, the ribs showing through his slightly ashen flesh, the way his collarbones stuck out at the ends. She could have taken note of how long and unkempt his hair was, tangled and dirty as though it had grown like a weed.

She could have focused on how the undersides of the man's forearms and the crooks of his elbows were more abused than those of even the most extreme drug user.

She could have seen the thin chain around his neck that held a pair of dog tags, one of them inscribed with an alphanumerical code with the words "Project L" on the back, and the other with the numeral I.

Zack did, but she didn't.

All she saw was her exact hair color underneath all the grime, the serious eyebrows, a slightly longer version of her nose minus the bump, a hint of her full mouth, and the cheekbones that she inherited straight from her mother.

And she knew exactly what she would see if he opened his eyes.

"N-no." She stumbled backwards, getting tunnel vision and, panicked, willing herself to stay conscious.

A leap passed through her stomach, and it felt something like joy, but it couldn't be.

_They didn't. Did they?_

"_What is that_?" She sounded like she was being strangled, in an effort not to scream.

_What if they did?_

_That's not him. It can't be him._

"That—th-th-that's not poss-ssible," she helplessly stuttered on in the same strained tone.

_He's not allowed to be here. THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE._

(Zack was thinking with a start that the man almost looked like Di and Dev, and based on his friend's reaction—which was scaring the living shit out of him, by the way—he came to his own horrified conclusion.)

"You—you're _not_!" Diana accused the unconscious man, deliriously pointing an accusing finger at him. The pounding in her head was getting stronger. "_He—is—DEAD! How could you_?!"

"Hey. Dev!"

Zack's voice broke through to her, and she looked straight up into his indigo eyes as he placed a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"No. _No_," she whispered fervently, and without another glance to the man in the bed, she fled the room before any of the others realized that their friend had even moved.


	65. A Decision

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: ... You know what, doing sixty-five of these has been really tiring. You get the jist.**

**A/N: Thank you, all readers, reviewers, alerters, and favoriters! I liked your theories, by the way ;) but I won't give anything away here. Prepare for more explosiveness! (Also, language warning, maybe?)  
Soundtrack time. What Have You Done by Within Temptation; Lie To Me by Red; and Had Enough by Breaking Benjamin. And you have no idea how long I've been itching to type that :'D  
Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 65: A Decision**

"Dev! Devon!" Zack's voice ricocheted down the hall after her as Diana wound her way through the hallways of the medical wing like a bat out of hell. Her headache faded to a dull roar as she blew out the doors and pelted for her own dorm, but she hardly noticed as the space was filled with a rushing white noise in her ears and with her own incoherent trains of thought playing bumper cars around the inside of her skull.

She was nearly to the right building when her ears and instinct told her that she was being followed. It was practically a straight shot across the Shinra compound to where she had come from, so even if she hadn't already recognized his footfalls, she would have seen that it was Zack and that he was alone. Against her will, she turned her head to glance behind her as she wrenched the door to her dormitory open. _There shouldn't be many people around, if any_, said an intelligent and somehow still sane corner of her brain. _Maybe that'll make this easier._

Her breath hitched as she took the stairs up four at a time. It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

_Who was in that hospital bed? It can't be him; that's impossible._

_If they dared clone him, I'm going to kill whoever did it._

_What if it _was_ him?_

_No_.

_I saw the blood. I SAW it. And Finn knew, and…and everything. It wouldn't make sense._

_Who was in that hospital bed?!_

_… I have to tell Zack, now. I can't do this anymore._

_I have to do this._

_I can't do this._

_How could I do this to him?_

_I have to tell him my secret._

It was the only way to get any comprehensive solutions out of this new mystery, and she knew it. Even if the great Revelation wasn't supposed to happen until tomorrow. And definitely not like this.

_Maybe it's better this way?_

_Oh, hell. Gods. Gaia—_

Wait.

**Gaia?**

_**I really need you right now!**_she screamed inside her mind, sending as strong of a signal as she could to that weird little void of her connection to the deity.

There was no reply, and she had reached the door to her room.

She fumbled with the keys, and the tumblers finally lined up, practically breaking off as she wrenched the key back out of the lock and threw the door shut behind her, barricading it with the coffee table and the ottoman on a whim. Thankfully, she had had the foresight to have already packed a travel backpack full of emergency supplies, should she have to flee at a moment's notice.

Shit. Zack had entered the building. She could hear him.

First off, she had to establish contact with the Goddess. That was the quickest way for her to get information in a way that shouldn't be violating divine secrecy policy or whatever. Since she wasn't getting any reception, she had to get to the church in the Sector Five slums. Her connection was strongest there—it was where she had first felt Gaia's presence—and that was her best bet right now, because she needed freaking _answers_.

All she had to do was handle Zack, and get out. Temporarily.

She hoped.

That depended on how this went.

She was oddly calm by the time Zack got around to using his master key and effortlessly shoving the barricade materials away from the door. He glanced at the coffee table and ottoman in brief confusion before his eyes tracked his friend to the center of the room. His hand froze on the doorknob before releasing, and he noted apprehensively that his friend's eyes were a luminous dark violet. The door fell shut.

"Hey. Gods, don't do tha—no, never mind. Look, I think I know what's going on here." He began to approach cautiously, as though she were a skittish but deadly animal. "I think… Oh, hell with it, you probably know what I think." Shifting his posture agitatedly, he raked a hand through his dark hair. "He looks just like you. I mean… Okay, I know this must be hard. But we'll have answers soon, Dev, so just, for now, try not to…" The words died on the way over his tongue as he watched his friend's face.

Devon was shaking his head slowly, his expression deepening into something beyond grief. Holy gods, was he tearing up? "No," he whispered at Zack, in that same tone as before. Zack had never heard a single syllable uttered so painfully.

But what he said next threw everything out of any kind of perspective at all.

"You can't call me that. You can't call me Devon," the youth said quietly, his voice beginning to shake. "I'm sorry."

It was the only thing she could think of to say. "I'm sorry," she repeated, considering how best to phrase this. "I…I'm not Devon. I've never been Devon. I'm Diana. I'm sorry." The carpet and his feet were going blurry as she didn't even try to blink back the impending tears.

"Wh—what?" Zack took in an extra puff of air at the sudden curveball. "Y—what are you talking about?"

"I'm Diana. I've always been Diana. Devon's never even been to Midgar," she confessed, the furniture in the room now beginning to swim in her tears. "I meant to tell you—no, but that doesn't matter. I'm sorry." In a perverse way, she almost hoped that if she said it enough times, it would sink into his skull that she really meant it. She also knew that that was completely futile.

"That's impossible," he deadpanned, staring at her, analyzing every inch of her that he already knew, his blue eyes searching everywhere for any evidence to the contrary. He seemed to not know what to think, which Diana almost preferred.

Almost.

"Look," she said coldly, flinging off the suspenders of her uniform to unzip her top in one movement, revealing the linen bandages beneath, while she yanked the tie out of her hair with the other hand. "You never really questioned why 'Devon' always wore these?" She made air quotes as her wavy hair fell around her face, then gestured to the linens wrapped tightly around her chest. "Why I never took my shirt off, even when we went swimming? Why I'd sometimes look at you the way I did—?" Her voice broke and she quickly reassembled her uniform, looking down.

"I wanted to tell you, I swear I did, but I couldn't. It would have been…too dangerous," she finished quietly, feeling lame and inadequate beyond belief.

Zack was silent for a moment, and it made her want to scream. He kept scanning her body like there was some hint that would give her away as playing a bad practical joke. Or maybe he was looking for the evidence that he had never seen while he had the chance.

She breathed out shakily, then reached behind her to her bunk where she had carelessly flung her still-damp washcloth and towel earlier that morning. There was a bottle of liquid sitting nearby as well—heavy duty makeup remover that she used to wash off the nearly impermeable concealer that masked her scar most of the time—and she emptied a bit onto the washcloth, proceeding to scrub at the right side of her face. "'Devon' didn't have this," she stated staunchly. "I do." She turned her face as she tossed away the cloth and bottle, and although the skin was an agitated pink, the uneven line of her identifying scar was as clear as day.

Either that did the trick, or Zack just decided it was time for him to speak, because he asked hoarsely, now staring at her scar rather than meeting her eyes, "Does anyone know?"

"I wish they didn't." _It would make this easier, maybe._ "But yes."

"How many?"

"Three."

"Who?"

"I won't tell you."

"Why not? Damage is done, isn't it?"

"Not if I can help it." She stubbornly ignored how the turn of phrase brought a new wave of stinging to the backs of her eyes, and she began to ramble in response. "It'll put you—and them—in more danger if you know. If anyone asks questions, it's better that you pretend not to know anything… And I mean, I don't think anyone else suspects me. I hope they don't, at least—"

Zack cut in. "Why do you keep saying that? You _wanted_ to keep everyone in the dark? Me?"

"Of course not!" she snapped, exasperated. "Why wouldn't I want you knowing who I am? It's just that if this goes really bad, it's better if you don't have any information!"

"What kind of sense does that make?" he unexpectedly snapped back.

Immediately, she flared up. Her unformed tears began to dissolve as she shifted into plain old aggressive frustration. "I was trying to protect the people I care about the most, you idiot!"

"_Protect_ us? Gee, nice thought, but shouldn't you come up with something a little more original than that?"

"What the hell do you mean? It's true! I don't know how familiar you are with modern law enforcement—" she needled him and didn't even care— "but generally speaking, the accomplices go down with the mastermind!"

"Diana. You're acting like you're a mass murderer or something. That's not—actually, no, fuck it, I'm not sure I even know anymore!" Oh, that was low. But Diana felt like she deserved it all the same. "But even if you were! To hell with accomplices, don't you know what a support system is worth?"

She had her feet braced apart, and her aggressive stance came out fully when she spat, "Don't _you_ know what this Company is capable of, Zachary? These people?"

"Exactly! I do! And that's why I don't understand why you possibly—"

"It's because I want you ALIVE, okay?! I've been prepared for months to receive the DEATH PENALTY and FLEE THE CONTINENT!" She was practically shrieking by now, and her chest had begun to heave as her eyes began to water again. "Do _you_ know the reason why there's a mad scientist with a horde of genetically engineered…beings…after me? No! Neither do I!" She was way past the point of being able to keep track of her own thought process, and clutched her head in both hands as the reminder of the man in the hospital bed caught up with her. "All I know is that they KILLED MY BROTHER for it!"

Well, that really shut up his facial expression. It had been stuck somewhere between rage, grief, lots of confusion, and maybe a little bit of pain. Now it was just sort of blankly horrified.

She flung her arms up in the air, starting to gesticulate wildly. "Yeah! My cousin? He's alive and well! You met him! The one they murdered was my _brother!_" There went her vision again, starting to swim. The tears obscured the floor. "Devon _was_ my twin brother! Past fucking tense! And I loved him more than anything! ANYTHING! And now—hah, now—" she made a really sick sort of half laugh as she flung her arms out wide and her tears climbed above Zack's knees— "now there's a man! In the hospital wing. Who's shown up out of fucking _nowhere_ and _looks exactly like my—DEAD—BROTHER! Explain that to me!_" Everything was blurry now. "No, I can't explain it either! But there it is. There it all fucking is, my entire fucked-up confession to you, and I can't even connect with Gaia for some fucking _answers!_"

She must have begun to cry, because the room suddenly cleared, but she was aflame and freezing at the same time and could hardly feel her face, so she couldn't tell. Forcing her arms back to her sides and leveling her stare at him—finally, he'd look at her—she ground out: "I need to get to the church. Please don't do anything stupid like telling anyone you know my secret; I'm doing it myself. _Today_."

And with that, she blew past him and out the door. Time seemed to slow for a moment as she brushed right by him, and there was that little gap of space between her shoulder and his arm.

On the one hand, she really wanted to just breeze right by him as though he wasn't even there. Just float on by like it didn't even matter.

But on the other hand, who the hell was she kidding; of course she wanted to knock against him just the slightest bit, just the edges of the bare skin of their arms, so that maybe he'd stop her and she'd turn around and he'd forgive her and she'd suddenly feel like everything was going to be okay and they'd be all sentimental and shit and everything would suddenly just be butterflies and rainbows and all that unrealistic utter bullshit they threw into every single gods-damned romance drama.

This wasn't a gods-damned romance drama. Well, it was, but not the movie kind.

So she passed by him without even the appearance of a second thought, and he might have turned his head just the slightest bit as she did so, but whether he looked towards or away from her, she never saw, because all she needed was to just get out that door.


	66. Sacred Place

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the wonder of FFVII.**

**A/N: Sorry that this is obscenely short, but you know the drill; the break worked the best. Eh. This chapter kind of got away from me and I'm not really even sure what happened...I chalk it up to Diana's weird mental state right now, which is, by the way, really freaking hard to write! -.-'**

**Anyway - ***pay attention to the italics*** otherwise it'll seem completely nuts. More nuts, that is. Anyhow. Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter, story alerted, and favorited! :D Enjoy, and I'll get another chap up soon to make up for the length/wait!**

* * *

**Chapter 66: Sacred Place**

She must have seemed mad, bolting out of Shinra territory as though hell itself was on her heels. Which, figuratively, it essentially was. Occasionally breaking out into mutters to herself that probably sounded like gibberish, and with wild eyes (she didn't even want to think about the color), she might have even looked like the demon that she was rumored to be in Wutai.

_When she was young, Diana once read a myth about a pair of gods, one female, the other male. Their mother was a human, and the two immortals were her only children, begotten by the king of the gods himself._

_In those days, more children meant more heirs, more arranged political marriages, more wealth, more power. (It also led to more bloodshed, but no one ever seemed to remember that until it was too late.) There was a woman who was acquainted with the gods' mother, and she herself had seven sons and seven daughters, all as beautiful and perfect as one could ever wish for idyllic children to be. But she was proud, too proud, and her hubris and thoughtless chatter were her undoing._

_For she took pleasure in belittling the mother of the immortal brother and sister, and her large quantity of children just gave her more ammunition to use against the poor woman. She bragged incessantly about her fourteen little rays of sunshine, lamenting in mockery how unfortunate it was that the other had only two children to carry on her legacy, and the absence of a husband besides._

_And said children did not take kindly to this. The immortals were both gifted archers, and out of spite and anger born of the desire to protect their mother, they stole into the rooms of the woman's children at night._

_The young god shot the seven sons in the back with seven golden arrows that blazed like the sun itself and brought excruciating pain before death._

_The goddess, his sister, shot the seven daughters in the chests with seven silver arrows that gleamed like moonlight and brought quick and painless deaths so that the girls simply lay down and appeared to fall asleep._

_And the previous mother of fourteen despaired, having lost her dearest treasures, and it was not known what became of her._

_Even so, the siblings showed no remorse, for immortals are much quicker to demonstrate cold-heartedness than clemency. Perhaps that is what an eternal existence does to one._

_Diana didn't realize until years later that the god and goddess of the myth were twins._

But she barely gave her insane speed any thought, as she focused solely on getting to the church. Every thirty seconds or so, she would send out a mental yell, and when she finally thought she felt a flicker in response, she ran even harder.

_Diana didn't have many childhood memories of special little things or moments she shared with either of her parents. She loved them, of course, despite her difficulty as a teenager, and had come to appreciate them more with her absence from home._

_But the best times, the ones that really stuck, were all her brother._

_Stealing his blocks and hastily giving them back with a hug when he began to cry. Seeing him giggle after a moment and shoving him over when she realized that he had been faking._

_Leaping off the couch together into the laundry basket, holding sheets out like wings and pretending they could fly._

_Getting so mad at him that she went and tucked herself into the hollowed base of a tree, then feeling even worse when he agitatedly walked right by without even seeing her. She had only realized later that that was because he knew her so well that he was searching the tops of the trees; she always headed for higher ground when she was upset._

_Staying up late at night talking, and mostly failing at inventing a code when they were forced to go to bed._

_Giving a kid two black eyes and a broken nose when he dared to call the two of them freaks within their earshot._

_Holding each other late at night through the nightmares of needles and monsters in white coats, once they had found out what they were. There was something about that bond that even their own parents just couldn't understand._

Normally, one did _not_ use SOLDIER speed in non-threatening civilian situations. It was both dangerous and terrifying for everyone else, but Diana didn't really give two shits right now.

She was there in a matter of minutes, practically going _through _the doors as she slammed into them with both hands. "_Where are you?!_" she screamed as soon as she was inside, and as the doors thudded shut heavily behind her, she was hit from ahead by a wave of power, nearly knocking her backwards even though there had been no actual physical force.

**WHAT ARE YOU DOING?**

_Finally losing my mind! What are YOU doing?!_

**Seas and skies, child, slow down! I cannot make any sense of your thoughts—**

_You mean you don't know what's going on?! You're kidding!_

**I was being blocked from you, and now I see why! If you do not at least to try to center your mind, I will lose you again!**

The knowledge that Gaia hadn't intentionally left her hanging—and by the sounds of it, had been pretty freaked out as well—was enough to shut off that facet of Diana's panic. She tried to breathe deeply and evenly as she proceeded down the length of the church, finally stopping to kneel by the spring in the patch of flowers. Bending her head and cupping her hand, she drank a little, then settled back onto her heels, squeezed her eyes shut, and pressed her palms together in prayer to focus.

_Couldn't you see what's been going on?_

**My attention was limited. I have told you before that I am not omniscient. **Despite the goddess' decrease in volume and intensity, she seemed to be trembling slightly. Diana knew that her thoughts and memories were being sorted through and organized. **There is no way I could have foreseen something like this.**

_That makes two of us, at least. I thought—I thought you would have the answers. You can't tell me who he is, can you?_

**I… There are pieces missing. People missing. But there is something strong telling me that your brother did not die this past spring.**

Chills broke out all over her body, and she knew that she should be much less calm than she was, but Gaia was doing a good job of keeping her stable. She could feel her own flow of energy, and that was a good sign.

**The only way to know for sure is to speak to him. For you, he will wake up. I know that much.**

…_Alright. I can do that. And afterward, what then?_

**As for your other problems, I suggest that you proceed with your original plan. Hold to that. And as for Zachary…**

She flinched, both mentally and physically.

**Whatever conclusion he comes to must be his decision, and his alone. He must think, and you both must calm down. But at the moment, go; you will be on a tight schedule. And you have questions that need to be answered.**

…_THANK YOU._

**I will be watching.**

And the goddess faded, but not entirely.

Diana parted her hands, stood, turned, and opened her emerald eyes.

And she began to walk.


	67. Names

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and my plotlines!**

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who's started following, faved, or reviewed! :D You guys are great.  
And, yes: psycho Diana is psycho. But she won't be losing her mind for long :)  
Okay, this chapter gave me so many emotional problems. Seriously. Trying to write someone's reactions to..._this_...is completely mad. So. Many. FEELS. I can't even.  
Enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 67: Names**

Soon, she was back in the same hospital ward, having returned much more calmly than she had left. Her SOLDIER friends were gone, but some medical personnel remained. Aerith saw her first, and began to speak, also appearing to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but Diana shook her head and smiled a little bit.

"We need to be alone, if you don't mind. He'll wake up for me."

The Cetra stared at her friend for a moment, then gave a long exhale. "Is it him?"

"I think so."

Aerith squeezed her hand as she left the room, and Diana heard her throw the locks. Calmly, she approached the bed and dragged a stool over to sit near the patient, still in full Second Class SOLDIER uniform.

"Well." She coughed unnecessarily, stonily reminding herself that this could still turn out to be something other than what she thought it was. "This is odd. I, um… I hope you're okay. I mean, you look like hell, but…" She tugged on her ponytail exasperatedly. "I just… Look, whoever you are, all I want are the answers. I just want to know. I need to know what's happened. It's not your fault if this doesn't turn out the way I was expecting, but I... Well, never mind. Anyway, I think we have the same objective here: we both want you to be okay. So if…" Trailing off, she saw that the heart monitor was picking up. His eyes were beginning to twitch as if in REM sleep, and it took about another minute, but eventually there was this horrible rasping noise that she could only assume was produced by his vocal chords.

"Please don't panic. It's okay," Diana blurted out, continuing to babble when the man began to look distressed and his breathing picked up. "You're safe, I swear. It's gonna be okay. Just keep breathing. Don't try to open your eyes; it'll probably just hurt," she advised as an afterthought. Good gods. He was actually regaining consciousness.

She gave him another minute of recovery, then began again awkwardly once he appeared to have settled down a bit, albeit uneasily. "Can, uh…can you move your fingers? Try your right." She was on his right side, and a few of his fingers twitched, then wiggled stiffly with a second effort. "Good. I think. Now left." He did the same thing on the other side. "All right. Now, do you know where you are?" Gods, she felt like a therapist. "Uh, wiggle your right fingers if yes, left if no."

Hesitation, then movement on his left side. "Okay, I didn't think so. You're safe, though. You don't have to worry, okay?"

He seemed to be coming back a bit more, and clearly there was something bothering him. His facial muscles were tensing, and he groaned a little bit.

"I know, you're probably disoriented and confused. You don't look so healthy, but someone found you and saved you, and now you're going to be okay."

That appeared to give him pause, but he still looked—was that fear under the surface?

"Now, do you know who you are?"

Immediate response in his right fingers.

"That's good. Do you remember what happened right before you passed out? I mean, we think you passed out," she muttered, and stopped when he moved his right fingers again. His cognition was speeding up, and the mako drip ought to help with that.

She drew a very deep breath.

"I don't suppose…well. Do you have any idea who I might be?"

There was no movement on either side for what seemed like a very long moment. Then, suddenly, his back arched and he drew in an enormous gulp of air, his eyes shooting open before squeezing shut with pain again. He hissed at the sudden exposure to light, but blinked rapidly and recovered quickly enough.

Then he fixed his half-blinded eyes on Diana, sitting there by the bed, and appeared to choke. "Dad?" he croaked, then seemed to correct himself: "_Mom?_" He blinked twice more, and then his gray eyes really focused. "…No."

Diana wasn't really sure what that was in response to, but she didn't care. Tears began to flow down her face. "What's your name?" she asked, looking straight into his eyes.

"…Devon Loveless. You're—"

"I'm Diana."

"—Di," he choked, and thrust out his arm desperately just to try to touch her.

She grabbed his hand in both of hers and sank to the floor, kneeling and putting her forehead down on his sunken chest, her chest heaving uncontrollably.

"I can't believe it's really you," he gasped from above her, and she lifted her head to see that he was crying rivers as well.

Suddenly desperate, her hands shot to his face and she carefully felt every angle, as if to make sure everything was in its place. "I-I-I thought y-you were dead," she managed, sobbing. "_E-everyone_ thinks you're d-d-dead."

He sighed and scrunched his eyes shut. "I was afraid of that. I thought…I was convinced you were going to be hurt. Or worse."

"But…what—what happened to _you_?" She stopped, and looked him over again. He was Devon, but down to the bones, and she asked in horror, "What _happened _to you?"

Smiling grimly, he smoothed her hair back. "That's going to take a bit to explain. You'd better tell me what happened to you first." He had nearly stopped crying by now, and so had Diana, who scrubbed at her eyes with the heel of her hand. Devon suddenly took in the rest of her appearance and blinked. "Are you—wait, did you steal some SOLDIER's uniform and sneak into a random hospital?"

Oh. Right. "About that." She sniffled one last time and settled back onto the stool, but refused to let go of his hand. "You were found by some Company employees on a routine external city patrol. This is the medical wing at Shinra. I'm friends with one of the head medics, which is why this room is currently surveillance-free."

Devon looked mildly surprised but nodded appreciatively, and Diana went on doggedly. "And I work… Well, the uniform is mine."

He blinked, then his bright green eyes narrowed slightly. "You mean… Didn't you steal it?"

"No, I… Director Lazard gave it to me a few days ago when I was promoted to Second Class."

The young man was silent for a moment, then suddenly looked downright alarmed. "Good Gaia, what's the date?!" he yelped, his hoarse voice cracking as he grabbed onto his sister's arm with a weak but insistent hand.

"Friday, the thirteenth of September," she responded automatically, frowning slightly, before she realized that he was afraid that he had been…out of commission…for years. "Oh, gods!" she exclaimed. "No, you've only been—missing—for a few months."

"Oh, thank the gods," he groaned, leaning back and closing his eyes briefly. He opened them again and shot her a suspicious look, as though he knew what was coming but was utterly baffled by it. "That's nowhere near enough time for them to have changed the whole no-women-in-SOLDIER thing."

"Er. I kind of ran away from home in late May, hopped a bus to Midgar, took your name, joined Shinra, made SOLDIER, and most recently got promoted."

Devon nearly choked on his own tongue. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?"

"You know why!" she fired back.

And it was true. He should understand her motives—and he did, it was just that his baby twin sister had, well, run away to join the elite army. "Well—yeah, I guess, but—what—good gods, if this is what happens when I leave you alone—!"

Said baby sister promptly tackled him in a hug. "Don't you dare do it again," she said into his shoulder, slightly muffled.

* * *

**Three hours later**

"Those utter _bastards_!" Diana snarled, her eyes darkening and flaring. "I _knew _it! I'm keeping my goddamn promise and _killing_ their leader with my _bare fucking hands_!" She pounded a fist into her open palm as she angrily paced the floor by Devon's bed. "Better! Destroy the records and the evidence and—"she paused. "Well, unless we need it for convictions. But I'd rather just kill them instead. But it could be useful so that…" She glanced back to her brother, who looked quite frankly worried for her state of mental health. Then she sighed through her nose, and her breathing and her eyes calmed slightly. "So that this never happens again."

"I agree," said Devon nonetheless, his voice hard.

There was indeed a connection between Devon and the scientists who had created and raised Finn and the rest of the number sets. Devon was a separate project, kept in a mako tank and experimented on (i.e. tortured) from time to time, but he had been sentient enough to gather bits of information about the events in the giant underground laboratory and, more importantly, keep them organized in his scrambled mind. (His unexpected mental resilience had really been the reason he had been able to escape.) The numbers had been a complex series of experiments with sets of specimens that just kept increasing in number, and the whole thing had been titled "Project M."

Devon, on the other hand, wore a dog tag on a chain that was inscribed with an alphanumerical code on one side and with the words "Project L" and the numeral I on the other. "If they bothered to call me specimen one, then doesn't it stand to reason they were at least waiting for a number two?" he had gravely asked Diana several minutes ago. "That's why they were after you. At first they were out to kill, but then I think they realized how powerful you were and how valuable you could be." He had made a disgusted face. "Every time I knew they were out after you, I couldn't… I prayed every second I was conscious that I wouldn't wake up and see you in that empty tank next to mine."

And yet, somehow, there was still more to come.

"The things I'm going to do," Diana muttered now, sitting down again. "I'm hunting them down—him, her? I think it's a him—I swear I'll bring half the army if I have to…"

"About that. You may want to stay sitting down for this."

She obeyed without question, bracing herself. Honestly, what could be worse than the trip to hell and back that she'd already taken today?

"I know who he is."

Well, she hadn't been expecting that.

"…Are you sure?" She probably shouldn't have been reacting sanely, but hey, it was all relative, wasn't it? Hell, she felt like she could handle anything at this point. And in a really sickeningly homicidal way, she wanted to know just so she could kill the man.

Slowly.

"A hundred percent. He's unmistakable, even though it should be impossible—" Devon reined in his rambling potential and squeezed his eyes shut. "…It's Hojo."

When no large objects or colorful swears were thrown across the room, he cracked an eyelid to see Diana watching the far wall pensively. _Oh, gods, I've done it now. She's lost it. Great_, he thought half-sarcastically and half in a panic.

"I knew it," she stated finally. "I don't know how, but…something in me knew it." She turned to her brother with gray eyes. "This is going to suck."

"Yes, it is."

"It's also going to do the entire world a favor."

"Do we get to torture him?"

"Of course."

"Even if there's no more information to get out of him?"

"Naturally."

"Great."

"Yep. And I'm bringing a couple…acquaintances along." She bared her teeth. "Seph and Vincent will appreciate this. And speaking of them," she realized abruptly, "I need to find Ange and Gen ASAP."

"Right," Devon stated gravely, then faltered. "Wait, who? …WAIT. Did you just refer to the First Class Triumvirate as 'Seph,' 'Ange,' and 'Gen'?

"Maybe. Only when they're not in the room, though; Zack's the only one who can get away with that and live, and I think half the reason is he's a First himself." Her expression wilted as she thought of Zack, but she had to shake him from her mind for now. "Anyway. Zack knows now, but, well." She didn't have to elaborate; she'd already explained how he had found out. "I have to sort this all out, _now_. That was my promise; you know that."

He pursed his lips and looked away. "What if it goes bad?" he asked quietly.

_I only just got you back_, they each thought.

"Aerith will know. Your DNA's given you away now, so if it gets so ugly that it looks like you won't be safe, she can make you disappear. We have connections in the slums." He opened his mouth to protest, but she gave him a severe look. "It's what's logical."

His mouth snapped shut again as she went on. She…had grown. He suddenly realized that he had missed the moment when his little sister became truly strong.

Gods, he was proud.

"I'll do my best; I've got contingency plans in place, too. And if there are problems, then when in doubt, fake amnesia. But hey." She quirked a smile at her brother. "It could go just fine."

Her guess was much better than his as to just how small of a possibility that was.

"Yeah, I mean, you have the Goddess on your side, right? That has to count for something," Devon smiled back, barely even quaking, to his credit. "I still can't believe you're one of her Chosen."

She snorted. "Yeah, neither can I, sometimes. But I can feel her, right now." Then she paused, and barked a laugh. "She thinks you're intriguing. And also that I have to get a move on."

His emerald eyes begged at her, and she fairly whimpered as she leaned down to hug him tightly again, being careful not to hurt him. He could barely sit up on his own.

"It'll be fine. I'll be alright, and we can all just be happy." She drew back, and he smiled wanly up at her.

"You know, you still can't lie to me."

Diana grimaced. "I can still try."

He grunted.

"I'll do my best."

He smiled. "That's my girl. Now go get 'em."


	68. Judgment Day, Part One

**Fearless**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the FFVII universe!**

**A/N: Happy Halloween, everyone! :D Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, followed, and faved, especially newcomers! I greatly appreciate your presence.  
WE JUST PASSED THE 300K WORD MARK, EVERYBODY! :O I NEVER EXPECTED THIS. I LOVE YOU ALL.  
I swear, I should just give poor Di a megaphone and/or a way to hijack every PA system in existence in Midgar and just have her scream things from the rooftops- er, speakers? Anyway, enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 68: Judgment Day, Part One**

Diana reminded herself that she was still in uniform and that her name was Devon Loveless, SOLDIER Second Class (sweet Mother Goddess, her brother was _alive_) and she took a deep breath before knocking on Angeal Hewley's door. Her one stroke of good luck was that she couldn't hear anyone inside besides Angeal's breathing.

The burly SOLDIER opened the door promptly, looking like he was in a reasonably good mood, and he didn't even look surprised. "Loveless?"

"Commander Hewley, sir." Diana snapped a salute. "Permission to speak with you privately, sir."

"Granted. And what have I told you about the 'sir,' Loveless?"

"Er, right…Angeal. Actually, I'd like to talk to both you and Commander Rhapso—Genesis," she amended dutifully when he raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think he'd object. Thankfully, I know he's free. Here, come in and I'll give him a call."

"Thank you." She stepped inside, trying to let some of the calming interior decorating seep into her.

They made small talk for a minute or two until Genesis arrived, at which point Angeal was sure Devon was going to pull his gloves to pieces in his evident agitation. Either that or take out a wall, which would not be optimal. The auburn-haired First Class let himself in, nodding to Diana with a "Loveless," which she returned with a "Commander." He sat himself down on the couch with his cup of midday coffee, and Angeal joined him with his tea. Diana was offered a seat, but she hastily declined, feeling better if she could move a bit.

"Devon?" Angeal frowned slightly, using Diana's first-name alias for one of the few times ever. "Just how serious is this?"

She forced down the half-hysterical laugh and swallowed hard. "Um…truth is, I'm not entirely sure."

"Just get it out there, plain and simple," advised Genesis, sipping his coffee and honestly a bit confused as to why he was being included in this exchange. Angeal was closer with this half of the Loveless twins.

"Okay, so I, um… I apologize in advance, because I've been lying to you both and a lot of other people, for about four months now." She took what felt like her millionth deep breath that day. "I am Diana Loveless. My twin brother, Devon, disappeared about five months ago and was presumed dead. I ran away from home and took his name and his place in his plans to join SOLDIER. The text that you—" she nodded somewhat shakily to a shell-shocked Genesis— "received from Aerith this morning about the man found half-dead on external city patrol? The man is my brother, Devon. I thought he was dead, but he's been held captive by a madman for several months now and managed to escape. I, uh…" Genesis' coffee was steadily dribbling onto his pant leg. "I always had this plan to reveal my identity once I was promoted to Second—really it was going to be tomorrow—but then Devon, well—extenuating circumstances, obviously—and, um…well, there it is."

"Hmm. Interesting."

Diana blinked.

Genesis exploded. "_Interesting?!_"

"You knew, didn't you?" Diana uttered hoarsely, a bit stunned.

"I had my theories. I knew you were hiding something, but this…only now does it all truly make sense," mused Angeal, stroking his chin.

"_You—what—insufferable—how—"_

"Sorry, Gen," Diana sighed, her shoulders collapsing, knowing perfectly well that every moment the two of them had ever shared was now replaying through her friend's head. "Overload, I know."

"Oh," Angeal said suddenly, his eyebrows shooting up. "I've just remembered something. In retrospect, it kind of gives you away."

"What? How?" demanded Diana.

"That morning way back in…oh, what was it, late June? The Wutaian break-in when they drugged all our food supply lines?"

"Ah. That. What about it?"

"Remember when you found the two of us—" he gestured at the still-mute Genesis— "defending the gates to HQ? You somehow appeared out of absolutely nowhere when no one else could get to us because of the roadblock with those hellhounds, and what I said was that if I just had another SOLDIER, maybe even a Third Class, then all we needed was a diversion. Then you picked up that heavy damned sword and just barreled into them like a Summon on a rampage." The SOLDIER chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. "And at that point, I guess you wouldn't have even gotten your mako treatments yet. Fascinating."

"Well, I'd been doing extra training with Zack's old practice sword," she admitted sheepishly. "That helped a bit."

"You don't say," he chortled.

_I'm glad you find this all so amusing_, Diana thought dryly, barely refraining from voicing the thought.

Genesis made another strangled-sounding noise.

"Perhaps we should talk business while Genesis recovers?" Angeal suggested, folding his hands in his lap as his friend continued to splutter and alternate between staring at his coffee and Diana.

"Please," Diana said gratefully.

"So. Your objectives in joining SOLDIER, other than carrying on your brother's legacy? That's very admirable motivation, by the way."

"Oh—thank you. Well, it was always Devon's dream, and besides that, I'd always thought it was a stupid rule that women couldn't at least try. I mean, they didn't even conduct proper preliminary mako experiments to base their reasoning on. And at that point…well, I just really wanted to prove myself. I felt this pressure, like I had to somehow live out both our lives on my own. I also…" she hesitated. "At that time, I was still under the impression that my brother had been killed by Wutaian soldiers. That was the day I got this." She turned her head and gestured to her scar. "I wanted revenge."

"And the Red Demon got it," Angeal remarked quietly. Clearly he'd heard the stories as well.

"Exactly. Well—actually, it's a bit more complicated than that; I'd found out the truth by that point. But, anyhow. I'm out to prove myself. And I'm quite frankly just really hoping that the Director doesn't have to sentence me to death for that, because the recoil on that is not gonna be pretty for anyone," she stated matter-of-factly, twisting at her gloves.

"Wha—death sentence?" Genesis snapped out of it at that one. "Why—?! Oh. The general deception and illegality of it all. Right. Stupid law, really," he muttered, robbed of his usual eloquence.

"Is that… You two know the Company better than I do," Diana implored them both. "Is that a real possibility right now? I was planning on going to the Director right after I spoke with you two. I want to know what to expect."

They all knew what she really meant. She wanted to know how ugly a fight it could turn into and what her priorities had to be.

"Hmm." Angeal pursed his lips. "What are your arguing points?"

"Scientifically speaking, there are in fact no adverse effects when mako is used on someone without a Y chromosome," Diana rattled off. "I'm a legend in our enemy country and was just promoted. It isn't like I haven't proven myself. And I've been loyal to the Company otherwise." Her gaze was steely, but she melted not two seconds after she'd finished. "Look, what I want is to change things. I used to think Shinra was so honorable, protecting the people, et cetera—it's gone to shit. We all know that here. It could be good, but only if people try to change it. And I know a few who could." She glared fiercely between the two of them.

Angeal stood up and applauded suddenly, grinning. "Give that to the Director, more diplomatically worded of course, and we'll see if we can't get you out of this alive."

Her knees just about buckled. "Seriously?"

He clapped her on the shoulder. "You're an incredible young woman, Diana Loveless. And you're not going down without a fight."

Genesis stood slowly, approached Diana, and suddenly hugged her with rib-popping strength. "You continually amaze me, my dear," he declared, releasing her.

"Thank you," she replied sincerely, then grinned. "Actually," she fidgeted, nervously punching a fist into her opposite palm, "before we go charging out there, there's something serious that you need to know. I can always withhold this from Shinra as blackmail material if I feel threatened, but you two need to know. The man known as Doctor Hojo is alive and well. He's been running an underground lab facility for years and producing projects that have most recently included semi-clones that make attempts on my life. Remember how I kept showing up with strange injuries and got attacked by monsters that one time? And when you picked me and Zack and Finn up from the Sector Six slums in an emergency medical vehicle and we were all half-dead? Yeah. Clone-people attacked us and I think we killed them all. Finn was one of them, but he turned good, and he helped us and then he died because he was supposed to be a—a stupid experiment with an expiration date—" She stopped, wheezed slightly, and rubbed at her eyes hard. "Hojo was the one who my parents hired to help them have children, and he's why Devon and I are different, but then all his crazy, sick work was revealed and that's why Shinra cut him off and expelled him from the city, and everyone heard he'd died in some lab experiment gone wrong, but clearly he hadn't because this past April he got a bunch of his clone-men to go out disguised as Wutaian soldiers and attack me and my brother while we were alone in the mountains outside Kalm, which is why I was so angry and ready to fight in this war, but now I don't know what to think, and I was sure—everyone was sure—he was dead, but there wasn't a body and now I know why because those soldiers were really Hojo's flunkies and he's been _torturing_ him for the past five months and I don't know how he escaped but he did and now he's the only one who knows where Hojo's hiding out and how to find him!" she finished, breathing hard.

Angeal and Genesis were gaping at her, speechless and stuck somewhere between stunned disbelief and building anger.

Then the door opened.

"I apologize for eavesdropping, but did I mishear that?" asked the Silver General. "Or did you just say that that embarrassment to creation is alive and well?"

Diana immediately snapped to attention, then just about lost it. "…Um," she blurted out eloquently.

"At ease. Really, it's alright, Miss Loveless; I know already," Sephiroth said, the corner of his mouth twitching up.

_Of course. Of freaking course_. But she made a face. Pretty much nothing could faze her at this point. "I'm still a SOLDIER, sir."

"Touché. But back to business. I'm afraid I must demand to know that man's whereabouts." Diana noticed for the first time that Sephiroth had Masamune drawn.

"I understand," she said carefully, trying to be as soothing as possible. Hell, she'd be worked up, too, in his position. "But my brother is the only one who knows, and he was half delirious and mostly dead by the time he got here. He might have trouble with the details, but we'll move out as soon as we can to try to figure this thing out. He's also probably asleep right now," she said as the thought struck her. "But it's highly unlikely anyway that…Hojo…will be worrying about being found out anytime soon. Devon should have died in the process of escaping on his own, and he made it difficult for anyone to track him. We aren't immediately pressed for time."

"…Good," he finally uttered. "If you're absolutely certain about all of this."

"I trust my brother more than I trust myself," she admitted quietly.

"Fair enough. Now, I suggest you page in a request to see the Director as soon as possible. This is a serious matter, after all," he advised her with his trademark deadpan expression, but his eyes crinkled a bit at the corners.

A bit of the tension went out of Diana's shoulders. "Of course, sir. Right away."

"I expect to be kept up to date on matters."

"Yessir."

"And Loveless?" The silver-haired man paused on the threshold on his way out. "If anyone tries to cause a convenient accident for you…there will be hell to pay." He swept out in a flare of black and the door clicked shut unassumingly.

Genesis blinked. "Did he just…?"

"Yes, I believe dear Sephiroth just offered to defend you," Angeal stated, nodding to a dumbstruck Diana. "Threatened, more like, but it's the thought that counts." He gave a pointed look to the PHS now dangling limply in her hand. "Well, get to it. Do you want to see Lazard now or next week?"


End file.
